The management of the St Jude’s Home for Girls is calling on the State to provide more facilities and trained staff in order to deal with and care for children with special behavioural issues and other needs.
“St Jude’s cannot manage those types of children because we don’t have the trained staff, we don’t have the capacity. If we have to do that, the facility must be outfitted to deal with these types of children,” Deoraj Sookdeo, manager of the facility, said on Tuesday.
It’s been two and a half months since a St Jude’s staff member was attacked by residents during their daring attempt to escape the facility, and workers say since then they continue to fear for their safety.
“These girls need to be at YTRC (Youth Transformation and Rehabilitation Centre), they need a more controlled environment, or they can bring in female prison officers because the staff isn’t trained for those type of children,” a staff member told Guardian Media under the condition of anonymity.
On August 6, a worker was ambushed and hit in the head with a toilet tank and vase by two teenage residents who were attempting to escape from the institution.
Guardian Media understands that the worker, who required stitches, is still at home on leave and is dealing with health complications as a result of the attack.
Guardian Media was told that while the girls were isolated and under the keen eye of a security guard for three weeks following the incident, they are now back among the general population and are allegedly causing trouble again.
“They curse staff members daily, telling them about their family members and saying all manner of disgusting things about their body parts,” another staff member said.
Guardian Media was told that their behaviour is now encouraging others to follow suit.
“A house mother had a slippers thrown at her by a resident for verbally correcting her for disrupting the house. She then rushed the worker and said she will beat her and only then security came and escorted her out of the house,” the staff member said.
Guardian Media reached out to the Children’s Authority of T&T for an update on the girls who carried out the attack.
“The incident at the home continues to be under active investigation by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, and the girls remain at the home, under supervision, pending the outcome of this investigation,” the authority responded via email.
The authority added that any questions regarding security at the home should be directed to the institution’s management.
“We have increased the staff ratio to children and we did increase security, we increased the security by two per shift and we would have hired twelve to fifteen additional caregivers,” the home’s manager explained.
While impressing that no one should deem the girls as ‘violent’, Sookdeo said the current system does not allow for individual attention and children of all backgrounds are lumped together in the system.
“There is no facility for a child who, for example, is on medication. They are in the same environment as those who are there for protection or who may have absconded, we need to streamline the clients, we don’t have the right spaces for those with challenges, no two children have the same DNA to work with.”
This issue was highlighted in the 2021 Judith Jones report into children’s homes. The investigative team objected to the current practice of just finding a ‘space’ in a children’s home rather than a facility that will cater to their needs. The report also admonished the CATT for allegedly meeting just once a month to discuss assessments and placement for children.
Attempts to reach Minister in charge of Child and Gender Affairs in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ayanna Webster-Roy, for comment were unsuccessful late on Tuesday.
