Child-friendly space opened at Ewarton Health Centre

The country's latest child-friendly space has been opened at the Ewarton Health Centre in St Catherine.

The facility, which was established at a cost of US$22,000 or J$3.3 million, will serve as an avenue for the well-being of youth.

A child-friendly space is an environment designed to help children who are victims of crime to feel safe, calm, and comfortable while interacting with professionals, including law enforcement officers, social workers, healthcare professionals and prosecutors.

It serves to help Jamaica's most vulnerable children who have been victims or witnesses of violent crimes, including human trafficking.

This is the sixth child-friendly space to come on stream under the Jamaica-US Child Protection Compact Partnership programme.

The partnership serves to build on Jamaica's existing efforts to prosecute and punish perpetrators of child trafficking, identify child- trafficking victims, and strengthen the provision of comprehensive protective services, and prevent child trafficking from occurring.

Speaking at the handing over today, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said the space will play a crucial role in shielding young people from the potential long-term effects of adverse childhood and community experiences. 

"These include the realities of human trafficking, poor housing, violence, community disruption, and untreated emotional and behavioural disorders," Tufton stated.

Tufton noted that it is estimated that nearly 120,000 of Jamaica's 800,000 children may be grappling with a mental health disorder, with approximately 40,000 of them facing severe conditions.

He underscored the importance of the new child-friendly space given that only two out of the Government's 23 child and adolescent mental health facilities operate from Monday to Friday, serving 3,500 children.

Highlighting the scarcity of specialised professionals, including child and adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and play therapists, Tufton expressed concern that over 110,000 children and adolescents with mental disorders might go unrecognised and untreated.

"We must continue to act in the best interest of our young people," the health minister implored, while thanking the United States government and the WARNATH Group, which partnered with the St Catherine Health Services to make the facility a reality.

United States Ambassador to Jamaica, Nick Perry, commended the bilateral partnership between the US and Jamaica, emphasising that the opening of the child-friendly space is a tangible outcome of this collaboration.

He disclosed that a total of US$6.7 million has been allocated for the project.

Perry also announced that several more spaces are slated for completion before the end of the year.

- Ruddy Mattison 

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