A house does not make a home - CDA
Published:Monday | November 29, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer
Almost three years after the Child Development Agency (CDA) took four children from their mother, Karen Elliot, they remain in state custody.
When The Gleaner checked with the agency recently, a representative said the children were still in the CDA's care.
The children were removed from the mother's care on October 23, 2007 in Old Harbour Bay, St Catherine, in the aftermath of Hurricane Dean.
Even though a house had been subsequently made available to them, other provisions crucial to approved standards have not been met.
The Gleaner was informed that despite a house being provided by the Ministry of Housing, no suitable candidate has come forward to care for them.
"The children are with us because no suitable adult has come forward to take them and treat them with the expected standard. As such, we cannot release them, even though we would have loved to,'' said Glen Campbell, St Catherine field officer of the CDA.
Campbell told The Gleaner that investigations revealed that Elliot has since died, and that while relatives were interested in caring for the kids, they did not meet the criteria of the CDA, as a "house does not make a home''.
Meanwhile, Campbell said the CDA was trying to get other agencies on board to find a home for Elliot's children.
"We have to make sure they get a suitable environment that befits a home, so it makes sense for us to do what's best for the children," Campbell concluded.
He said the donated house was still the property of the children and would be turned over to when they are older.
The plight of the children came to national attention after it was reported in The Gleaner in 2008.
In Dean's wake, the mother and her children were found camped out in squalid conditions in the Old Harbour Bay Community Centre.
Campbell said the children are between four and 16 years old.