A SENIOR lecturer in gender and development studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, has rekindled the debate on the status of children's homes and places where youths are held as wards of the State.

Emphasising the need to observe the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Dr Leith Dunn, head of the Institute of Gender and Development Studies, says children in state institutions should be put in "intensive care".

Speaking yesterday at a forum organised by the National Advisory Board on Disability and the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities at the UWI, Mona, Dunn said the service offered in state institutions should be exemplary and of the highest quality. This, she argued, would give children the best options for survival and development.

Staff should be trained

According to the gender specialist, staff at children's homes should be properly trained and individuals held accountable for their actions.

Dunn made it clear that employees who did not carry out their duties effectively should be sent home.

"Fire dem if dem naw do dem work," she said.

Meanwhile, the UWI lecturer told The Gleaner that with the increased challenges facing persons with disabilities in the wake of the global recession, persons with disabilities needed more employment and training opportunities.

She also argued that the risk of becoming disabled in Jamaica had increased because of the high levels of crime and violence in the society.

Chairperson of the National Advisory Board on Disability, Dr Patricia Dunwell, said violent injuries had cost the health sector $2 billion in 2006 compared with $316 million in 1996.

She told those in attendance at the forum that the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre in St Andrew did not have the capacity to assist the increasing number of persons requiring treatment at the facility.

Dunwell said there were only 36 beds at the centre and eight were permanently occupied by disabled persons who did not have a home in which to stay.

State minister in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Andrew Gallimore, said the forum was organised to bring stakeholders together to discuss ways to fund and improve services offered to the disabled community.

He lauded non-governmental organisations and charitable institutions that were providing assistance to persons with disabilities.

The UNCRC grants all children and young people (aged 17 and under) a comprehensive set of rights.

The convention gives children more than 40 substantive rights. These include the right to:

Special protection measures and assistance.

Access to services such as education and health care.

Develop their personalities, abilities and talents to the fullest potential.

Grow up in an environment of happiness, love and understanding.