Pushing back against criticisms that all is not well at the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA), Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Vindhya Persaud on Thursday said she “inherited a broken system”.

Persaud has been the Minister of Human Services since 2020.

In an interview today, she said over the last five years, she has worked to put systems in place in accordance with the Child Protection Act of 2009.

The Childcare and Protection Agency has come under heavy criticism about its management and training in wake up of a number of recent incidents.

Earlier this week, two Officers from the Agency were caught on camera dragging a school girl along the roadway, while there was the death of a 14-year-old girl one month after giving birth and in another incident, a 15-year-old mother was brutally attacked and stabbed by the father of her child.

The recent incidents forced the former Director of the Childcare and Protection Agency, Ann Greene to question the current management of the Agency. But the Minister of Human Services today said Greene should know better than to criticize a system she once overlooked.

“I inherited a broken system when I came into office, and I have spent the last five years working to fix those things, developing new programmes and I have no apology in saying that the system is not perfect, it needs work, and will continue to have work done to ensure that it is optimally operationalized. But I think it is a bit irresponsible for a former director to say negative things about a system she was part of. She was there for a long time and understood the deficiencies and inadequacies that existed even when I first came in,” the Human Services Minister said.

In a recent letter to the press, the former Director of the Agency said reports suggest that the agency is being managed by individuals who lack the requisite skills, knowledge and experience to effectively carry out the made of the organization.

But the Human Services Minister said the Agency continues to function in keeping with the Child Protection Act of 2009, noting that a number of policies and programmes have been brought into effect to give meaning to the legislation. 

“I would like to think that the previous director knows that many of these did not exist before. We have been creating a lot of these new policies. We have continually training our officers. We have also been crafting new programme. Whenever a child is in a difficult situation the child rights must always be maintained, do not take those lightly,” she said.

Alluding to the case involving the two welfare officers, Minister Persaud assured that anyone found culpable of violating the rights of children will be held accountable. She, however, underscored the need for proper systems to be followed as the investigation into the incident continues.

“Any behavior that puts a child in danger or that perpetrates any form of abuse, will not be tolerated by this minister, the ministry and the Child Protection Agency. So, we have immediately taken action, sent those officers on administrative leave. They have met with the Permanent Secretary, the Director of the Child Protection Agency and the necessary steps will be followed. We will follow all the steps. It is not a simple solution of doing something. We have to follow due process at the end of the day but we will hold them accountable, I can tell you that,” she assured.

In the case of the two teen moms, Greene had also questioned whether established protocols in place that are meant to protection children were followed. Greene had pointed out that the age of consent for sexual activity is 16 years, adding that once a teenager below the age of consent gives birth to a child, the medical officers are bound by the Child Protection Laws to report the matter to the CPA. CPA, she added, is mandated to intervene for the protection of both the teen mom and her child and ensure that the perpetrator is brought to justice.

Minister Persaud, in response, told News Source that in both cases, the protocols were followed.

“The Region Two case there was a forensic interview done, the perpetrator in the first case was apprehended, went to court, that person was on remand, and then we have the second aspect of it.” Minister said.

Minister Persaud said the Human Services Ministry will continue to build on existing systems. However, she admitted that the system must be transparent, accountable, efficient and robust.

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