Case for removal of wards from Sunbeam Children’s Home postponed

The case regarding the removal of wards from the Sunbeam Children's Home has been postponed  until February 6.

The case comes amid moves by the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) to delicense the home. It is applying to the court for removal of the children to a facility in Stony Hill, St Andrew.

When the matter was mentioned in the St Catherine Parish Court on Friday it was revealed that the application documents for the removal of the children were incomplete.

Senior Parish Court Judge Desiree  Alleyne said the application should detail how the future of each child would be addressed.

Attorney Steven Powell, who represented the CPFSA, told the court that the boys were wards of the state, but the judge insisted the documentation had to be completed.

Powell also told the court that in January 2024 a machete was used to assault a boy at the institution, a matter that is under police investigation.

He said there were several events dating from 2021 which Sunbeam failed to address.

In opposing the CPFSA's application attorney Maesha Campbell told the court that Sunbeam has a zero-tolerance approach to corporal punishment.

Campbell also said there was no due process before the order to remove the 52 boys from the home was decided on.

- Rasbert Turner

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