.jpg)
FAMILY-BASED CARE
She stressed that the agency is strongly promoting family-based care because children should not have to grow up in institutions. She further noted that children in institutions do not get the individualised care they need and there are not enough social persons to provide the support needed by those children.
“It’s better for a child to live with a family, not an institution. The institutions are overcrowded right now,” she said.
Green related that there are over 800 children living in institutions in Guyana, noting that’s a big figure for a country with such a small population.
She reiterated that the CCPA is promoting family-based care, and a child is put in an institution only as the last resort.
According to Greene, when a home is needed for a child, the agency will first look at extended family members, such as an aunt or grandparent. If that does not work, then they seek a foster parent for the child and only if this is not successful, then the child is placed in an institution.
However, she stated that because foster care is not readily available, institutions are still being used as a first resort in some cases.
As such, the CCPA is seeking to train and screen a core list of persons to be foster parents and have them standing by for when the need arises.
“We’re calling on people to come onboard and foster a child. It’s a rewarding experience. Think about it, you’re changing the whole world through one child at a time. When you intervene in one child’s life, it’s a generation you’re saving,” Greene asserted.
She further stressed that children are underserved in Guyana but emphasised that this is not because the government is not doing enough. She stated that the government alone cannot carry this responsibility, since it is the responsibility and duty of every adult citizen to care and protect children.
Greene pointed out that in order to be eligible to foster a child, a person must be responsible and must have good relations in his/her community.
In addition, interested foster parents are also subject to a police screening to ensure good character and a medical screening to ensure that they are fit to care for a child.
She also stated that persons who are interested in becoming foster parents should earn at least $40,000 a month – the reason for this being that the CCPA wants to ensure that persons do not make a business out of caring for a child.
$18,000 MONTHLY STIPEND
While Greene emphasised that no one could ever be paid enough to care for a child, she advised that a monthly stipend of $18,000 for each child is paid to foster parents.
Moreover, she noted that the CCPA undertakes training sessions with potential foster parents and child protection officers would also conduct routine visits to foster homes in order to ensure that the children receive the best care.
Meanwhile, persons interested in becoming foster parents can visit the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) office at Broad and Charles Streets, Charlestown, Georgetown and fill out a Foster Care Application form.
