IN keeping with its mandate under the Juvenile Justice Act, the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) will soon be establishing a special care centre for juvenile delinquents who are referred to the agency by the court.

The agency is required to take referrals from the court, especially if the magistrate finds that a juvenile, who committed a crime, lacks parental care, direction and supervision.
According to the Act, it shall be presumed that no child under the age of fourteen shall be capable of, or guilty of, committing an offence. The Act further stated that where a child is charged, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Prosecutor or the attorney-at-law representing the child shall request of the court that an evaluation of the child be done and the court shall order that the evaluation be conducted by a suitably qualified person at the expense of the State.

The person identified to conduct an evaluation of the child shall furnish the court with a written report of the evaluation within thirty days of the date of the order.

The evaluation shall include an assessment of the cognitive, emotional, psychological and social development of the child and the person who conducts the evaluation may be called to attend the court proceedings and to give evidence and, if called, shall be remunerated by the State.

If the presumption is rebutted the child shall be treated as a juvenile and dealt with in accordance with the provisions of this Act. And if the presumption is not rebutted the court shall refer the child to the Director of the Childcare and Protection Agency, Ann Greene, to be dealt with under the Protection of Children Act and the Director of Public Prosecutions shall withdraw the charge.

“The courts referring persons to us…there are children who committed crimes but the court feels that because it is negligent care, they are being referred to us… for this year seven have been referred to me,” said Greene in an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle.

She said the CPA is now tasked with finding a facility for the juveniles, since those are children who have offended. They are different from the children who are normally in the CPA’s care, said Greene.

With the growing need for a facility for juvenile delinquents, the director said she intends on establishing a special care centre which will concentrate on the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders. “We are working towards that…I have a plan and everything… the persons who we will take in are those who cannot be sent to the New Opportunity Corp and so forth,” said Greene.

As the agency moves forward with preparations for the centre, they rolled out an interim Child Development Programme which focuses on ensuring that juveniles do not reoffend and offend.

The programme was already launched and it includes the seven boys who were referred to the agency. “We want this to be something special…something that will keep them out of trouble and keep them from reoffending.

“We want to prevent them from reoffending and offending… we cannot allow them to reoffend… so we will be working in collaboration with the religious community to ensure that the programme is a success,” said Greene, adding that she will evaluate the progress of the programme in three months.

If the programme proves to be successful, she said she will be putting it in the agency’s budget for next year. It was reported that a total of 27 cases involving young offenders were before the Children’s Court at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court last month. The matters were being heard in accordance with the rules and laws of the Juvenile Justice Act.
In October 2018, the Children’s Court was commissioned to provide reform rather than punishment for young offenders under the age of 17. The cases that were before the court involved young offenders in crimes such as murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, discharging a loaded firearm and other petty crimes. The offenders are placed into the custody of Juvenile Holding Centre at Sophia and the matters are held in camera away from the public. A probation officer and a child protection officer are attached to the court and are present at each hearing. The Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) is also involved in the pre-screening of juveniles.