CPA working overtime to tackle child abuse reports
Guyana’s Child Care and Protection Agency of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security is in the process of establishing a Rapid Response Team (RRT) that will work around the clock to protect vulnerable children.
The team is expected to be launched by mid-April, 2025 and will be piloted in Region Four.
“It was felt that we needed to work beyond the hours of work at the Child Care and Protection Agency (CPA). We are looking at a rapid response team that goes into the evening hours to respond to the number of cases and reports,” Minister of Human Services and Social Security Dr Vindhya Persaud said at an engagement held on Saturday at the NCN Studios on Homestretch Avenue.
Minister Persaud said the urgent need for the RRT was realised three years ago when her ministry launched the Street Light Project.
The Street-Light Project was launched to safeguard the interests of children who often cluster at busy intersections begging from motorists.
Minister Persaud had said at the time that these children should be assessed to determine what led them to roam the streets and beg from strangers.
If it is safe, Minister Persaud had said, these children should be returned to their family’s care where their needs can be met and a database would be established to track their progress and ensure they are being provided for.
With the upcoming launch of the RRT, Minister Persaud said that there are many “reports of cases of abuse and as you know abuse is not only limited to sexual abuse, there are various aspects of abuse and that includes neglect, physical and emotional…Neglect is the top form of abuse in our country.”
A total of 4,032 child abuse cases were recorded in 2024.
The human services minister highlighted the shortage of qualified professionals within the agency and said there is a need for more Child Care and Protection case officers.
Currently, 48 officers are serving in regions across the country which is not adequate to address the number of child abuse cases that are surfacing in these regions.
To address the shortage of social workers, a new para-professional training programme is being launched in collaboration with the ministry and the University of Guyana.
“I have been in discussion with the head of the Social Work Department, Ms Debbie Hopkinson, and also United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and we are looking at how we can have members in the hinterland communities ….to equip them with the essentials for social work with the understanding that they will move on to degrees and sub-specialities in social work,” Minister Persaud said.
The training opportunities for the recruits are expected to fill the void in human resources that are necessary to advance the initiatives of the CPA and the ministry.
These initiatives are part of the government’s commitment to eradicate all forms of abuse of children and safeguard the future of Guyanese society.