Parents benefit from FHC/CDA islandwide workshops to include LGBT issues

Participants listen keenly at the CDA and FHC positive parenting seminar during the session held in Clarendon 

PARENTS and guardians have benefited from eight parenting seminars recently hosted by First Heritage Co-operative Credit Union (FHC) in association with the Child Development Agency (CDA) through the campaign series 'Positive parenting: for our nation's sake'.

The campaign, launched last month by the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two entities, included eight parenting seminars islandwide in areas with a high incidence of child abuse cases.

The seminars were designed to equip parents with positive parenting techniques in developing better parent-child relationships, highlight their responsibilities under the law, the community's role in child protection, and budgeting for the family.

According to the organisers, the seminars have been very successful, with parents honestly sharing about the challenges they were facing, while seeking assistance. Almost all seminars were oversubscribed, with the FHC 'Managing your finances' session a hit at every location.

"We are really happy we took this route, partnering with the CDA to host these seminars. We have recognized that financial stress can sometimes affect the quality of familial relations and family members' ability to cope effectively with their everyday economic realities. Therefore, we were more than prepared to lend our expertise in the area of managing the family budget and giving financial advice to help these parents overcome money worries," said Maria Morrison, chief operating officer of FHC.

"Based on the evaluation forms, the feedback has been positive. The parents found the speakers to be excellent, very engaging and interactive with practical presentations. They've also said the topics were quite appropriate and relevant," said Nadine Anderson, team leader from the CDA southern region.

Similar reports have been echoed by her colleagues in the south east and north east regions where seminars were held in Kingston, St Catherine, St Mary, and St Ann, with each region focusing on issues of major concern within their locale.

"We've found that although it's different parishes, it's the same issues, but sometimes things vary. For example, having done our needs assessment in working with both the children and parents, we realize that in St Catherine the problems are more behavioural. 

The children are misbehaving at home or school. In Kingston, the issues tend to be sexual. Parents don't know how to talk about sex or have an appreciation for the body or how to handle a child who has homosexual tendencies. But generally, there are lots of issues particularly with the traditional style of parenting, where children are to be seen and not heard. Now the parents are committing to listening to the children more," said children's officer Sasha Tucker.

As a result, the resource personnel included clinical psychologists, trained counsellors, children's officers and police personnel who could effectively cover the issues being addressed.

"Traditionally, FHC would normally host our annual free parenting seminar in Kingston. Though it has been extremely successful, the prevailing situations in the country have steered us along this path to reach even a wider cross-section of audiences. As we participate in each session, listen to and talk to the parents who are grateful for the assistance and training, there is no doubt this was the right decision," said Morrison.

National Children’s Summit for Jamaica Conference Centre for August Excludes Sexuality Issues

The following press release came to had via email from a reader originally from the Child Development Agency, CDA and it struck me that the core issues of sexuality, early initiation and sex that have bee raised via various incidents (JFJ sex manual matter included) and by numerous public commentators and private citizens yet this upcoming conference seems to nicely ignore those realities. In light of the recent announcement Youth Ministry to develop programmes to address LGBT youth, homeless, destitute and vulnerable children a conference of this type would at least begin to look at some of these issues affecting teens even as none state actors also shrug their ow responsibilities in a sense while passing them off to government.

Just saying ..........

The release said:

Nearly 600 children from across Jamaica will converge on the Jamaica Conference Centre on August 21, 2014, for the Child Development Agency’s first National Children’s Summit.

Being spearheaded by CDA’s Children Advisory Panel (CAP), under the theme, “Creating Opportunities for Jamaica’s Vulnerable Children- Opening Doors to Securing a Brighter Future,” the Summit is part of the CDA’s 10th anniversary celebrations being observed from June 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015.

CAP is a 15-member grouping pulled from different sectors of the society which was established in 2012 to provide child-friendly advice to CDA’s Executive Management Team and the CDA Advisory Board..

In addition to CAP members, those to attend the Summit include children nominated from youth organizations, church groups; children who are in the care of the State and representatives of the Office of the Children’s Registry Child Ambassador corps, the Office of the Children’s Advocate Children’s Advisory Group and the National Centre for Youth Development, among others.

CDA’s CAP Chairperson Charles Young explained that the team had identified the need for the Summit as part of its general itinerary of activities and is primarily an extension of its mandate to seek and represent the views of children, especially those who are in the care of the State on matters affecting them.

“The objective of the Summit is to create an environment in which children ages 9 to 17 can interact and share experiences and views on critical issues affecting them in Jamaica, and to make recommendations on how these issues can be addressed,” Mr. Young said, pointing to a number of issues which have been impacting children and young persons, including child abuse, neglect, general violence permeating the society, bulling, and general lack of respect for others and their properties, and other socioeconomic factors impacting almost every individual.

“Our goal is to give these children a voice. During the Summit, we will encourage them to have open and honest discussions on the matters affecting them, and to come up with solutions that we can share with the leadership of the CDA,” Mr. Young said.

Giving details on the features of the Summit, Kinshashia Johnson, PR Officer for the CDA CAP said that the event will feature an official opening ceremony, with speeches by the Minister of Youth and Culture, the Hon. Lisa Hanna, and CEO of the CDA Rosalee Gage-Grey and child representatives; topical workshop discussions, and interactive sessions on technology, art and craft, and career development.

Workshop sessions will include discussions on Managing Conflict; Knowing Your Rights as well as Your Responsibilities; Helping Children Transition from the Primary to Secondary Education System; Success for Today, Tomorrow and Beyond; Developing Entrepreneurial Skills and Abilities and Technology for Kids and Teens.

Ms. Johnson further disclosed that interactive features of the Summit will be an art and craft room called Art Expression Centre which will allow children to creatively express themselves by participating in painting of a mural; a Spa Oasis facilitated by HEART/NTA to provide beauty treatment services and demonstrations to the children, while appealing to their professional development; a play therapy area; a Robotics Display that will allow children to participate in assembling Lego robots; computer games, as well as a feature titled ‘Exploring the Musical You’.

She pointed out that adults who will be in attendance as chaperones or as specially invited guests will not be neglected as sessions are also planned for them Parents and caregivers who will participate in a workshop session called Good Parenting versus Bad Parenting, Success for Today, Tomorrow and Beyond and Knowing Your Rights as well as Your Responsibilities, the latter of which will be delivered with a special focus on child participatory rights.

In preparation for the Children’s Summit, the Children’s Advisory Panel members are currently carrying out a number of pre-summit meetings with children in different parishes across the island. Miss Johnson indicated that this was necessary because “the issues to be explored and discussed are so many and we had to find creative and cost effective ways to cover a number of areas, which could ordinarily not be possible in a one day event.

The Summit is seeking to achieve a number of specific outcomes including, developing a document outlining recommendations for improvements in service to children in Jamaica; giving children a greater understanding of initiatives being carried out by both State and Non-State actors; creating an avenue through which children can share their experiences.

The children will also be reviewing and providing a report on issues of importance affecting them and assessing the Children’s Declaration which was developed during the 2012 UN Regional Meeting on Violence against Children, to determine if the recommendations have been achieved, and if not, what they believe would be necessary to move the process along.

CDA CEO Rosalee Gage-Grey congratulated CDA CAP on the staging of the first National Children’s Summit, noting that the Agency is keen to hear the views of the children and to work closely with them in finding workable solutions to some of the issues they face.

“Since CAP was established two years ago to provide policy advice to the CDA Executive Management Team and the CDA Advisory Board, the group has been consistent in undertaking initiatives that have helped us in advancing the matter of child protection in Jamaica,” Mrs. Gage-Grey said.

ENDS

Typical sanitized approaches to looking at issues yet sexuality is ignored for the most part and as the investigations or witch hunt for the so called culprits responsible for the sex educational manual from Jamaicans for Justice continue I think as that has gone suddenly so quiet despite an interim report from the child development agency and an interim board of JFJ becoming active and vocal as of late.

I would have thought 16 year olds to 17 or 18 who are at the legal age of majority would have not been included in this as "children" as they are teenagers with much more issues to contend with; seeing that the age of consent is 16, yet the age of majority is 18 when it comes to getting married but to adopt a child one has to be 25 years of age and older under our laws. These weird gaps in age and legal definitions of a child versus how we treat with teens issues is of great concern.

The abuse of tees the nightly lists of missing kids seems not important for this conference and as for sexual orientation embedded in sexuality where that is nowhere to be seen. The topic on children knowing their rights one wonders if that is to supposedly bump he JFJ version of it and present a more comfortable version excluding same gender sex issues and avoidance of abuse by other tees as well as adults; owing to the fact that only church groups seemed to be the ones invited.

Let us see how this one goes.

Also see:

Youth Minister Lisa Hanna's conflation of same gender sex & abuse responded to part 2

Concerned sources claim that ... Boys kissed, fondled by male teacher

Children’s Advocacy & LGBT Agencies inconsistent approach to Homeless MSM Youth

Urgent need for sex & sexuality to be discussed nationally and Part 2 2012, not much has changed eh?

also see Dr Heather Little-White's take recently prior to her passing: Sexuality Education ... To Teach Or Not To Teach? 

UPDATE

Peace and tolerance

H

Sodomy is an Issue for Teens says Jamaicans for Justice Interim Chairman

As Jamaicans for Justice settles itself and the pending police investigations which to me is going too far in a witch hunt to punish someone continue the interim chairman has spoken again on the issue of sodomy, early initiation and youngsters as highlighted in today's Gleaner below. He had spoken to it in a radio interview in a previous post on this blog via RJR's Beyond The Headlines.

See that post here: Jamaicans for Justice Slowly Recovers & Appoints an Interim Board

Ryon Jones, Staff Reporter today reports:

Dr Barry Wade, the interim chairman of Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), has declared that a controversial education programme introduced in six private children's homes by the under-fire human rights lobby was justified, arguing that many of the nation's children are being exposed to anal sex.

"A lot of the children in Jamaica are sodomised. That's the reality," Wade told The Sunday Gleaner shortly after his appointment was announced last week.

"What we were doing was helping the children with how to deal with it; first of all, how to avoid it, then how to report it in instances of it happening, and how to manage themselves in a sexually safe and sound way."

Copies of the course outline obtained by The Sunday Gleaner showed where the wards at these homes were taught that "vaginal sex, anal sex and oral sex are forms of sexual penetration".

actual slides from the instructor's version of the JFJ manual (not included in the article) 

The course outline went on to state: "Anal and oral sex have traditionally been frowned upon, but with time, these practices are becoming more accepted."

The children were urged to "use a condom and lubricant during anal sex" to protect themselves against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Despite Wade's utterances, chairman of the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, Dr Wayne West, believes information of that nature should not have been included in a course geared towards children.

"I would suggest that probably the more important thing is to make people aware of the risk and of the harm that persons who seek to do that to them are in fact doing to them, both physically and psychologically," West said.

"Sodomising children is a criminal offence, and if you are seeking to protect them, you seek not to make it safe, but tell them how to bring the perpetrators to justice. But I am not hearing Jamaicans for Justice doing that."

The sex-education programme, which started in the homes in October 2013 and wrapped up earlier this year, saw children as young as 11 years old being taught about what many consider controversial alternative sexual practices.

An interim report by the Child Development Agency (CDA) stated that a review of the content of the JFJ training programme found that sections were "inappropriate for the age cohort and a departure from that approved by the Ministry of Education for use in public schools".

NECESSARY COURSE

But Wade, who was last Tuesday co-opted as chairman of a provisional 10-member board, believes the type of information the children were exposed to was necessary.

"The youngsters who we were engaging with, many of them were already sexually active, and that is a problem in many of the children's homes. These children - willingly or unwillingly - are being exposed to these things," Wade argued. "The purpose of the programme was to indicate to them that these things were there, how they could handle it, and how they could protect themselves in such situations. They weren't being introduced to something that they either had no knowledge of or that was outside of the so-called Jamaican culture. This is reality for many of the youngsters in the children's homes, so the context in which it was being taught was a very real one."

West is, however, of the view that if Wade and the other interim board members continue to sing from the same hymn book as the previous board, and do not get back to the organisation's roots, the JFJ will struggle to regain the confidence of Jamaicans.

"When they (JFJ) came into being, they were protecting the right to life, which would be of the citizens, and they were very good at that, and what they were doing was a good thing," West said. "The question of sexual rights is a whole new concept, which does not have international support and which, from the perspective of culture, may be something that the vast majority of Jamaican persons will not embrace. The concept that young people 10 years old have a right to sex as they choose is a cultural phenomenon that Jamaicans may not accept. So, to the extent that Jamaicans for Justice plans to include that in their mandate and continue to pursue it, it will, I think, give them a challenge to their image."

The training programme, titled 'Realising Sexual and Reproductive Health Responsibly: JFJ's Pilot Intervention in Children's Homes', was undertaken without the knowledge of the CDA or the relevant ministry at Alpha Boys' Home, St John's Bosco, Jamaica National Children's Home, Sunbeam Home for Boys, Elsie Bemand Home for Girls, and Best Care Children's Home.

The police are currently carrying out investigations into the programme to ascertain whether the Child Care and Protection Act and the Offences Against the Person Act were breached, and if anyone should face charges.

ENDS

Frankly the JCHS will do anything to oppose "homosexuality" as it were alongside the recently formed Jamaica CAUSE as as well og which Dr Wayne West is a founding member so I am not surprised at the well crafted rebuttal that really means nothing in the final analysis.

Even when common sense should prevail we see rubbish before us, this course is needed the only thing that has and still bothers me is the bypassing of the constituted authority which is the Child Development Agency, CDA as is legally required and the fact that they with all the proxy and monitoring powers they have of children's homes with abilities to not seek permission from their administrators to access the wards of the state did not see or hear of this seven month long course, someone is not speaking the truth.

Let us watch this development, I hope the JFJ regains its position of trust and the principles which it has come to be known via public advocacy, transparency, good governance and accountability.

A letter in the Jamaica Observer August 4 challenges the legality of the board which raises more questions of in-fighting:

It Read:

Dear Editor,

It is necessary to challenge by what authority do Dr Barry Wade and other members of the newly announced Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) board of directors act.

Only two board members remained following the children's homes 'scandal' that caused the majority of board members to resign.

It is written in the JFJ Board of Directors Manual, Item 2(f) iii that the board shall consist of no less than seven persons. Therefore, new elections should have been held at the recent JFJ extraordinary general meeting to select new directors to direct the affairs of JFJ. This did not happen.

The so-called new board of directors has no authority to act on behalf of JFJ. A properly constituted board of directors needs to be elected forthwith.

Beverly Sinclair
sinclairbv311@yahoo.com
Kingston 8

I am sure this is not the end of this as some persons seek to de-legitimize the work of JFJ apparently. 

And as sure as I gave the last update above here comes another:

August 4
KINGSTON, Jamaica:  Wade Insists JFJ Board is OK

Interim chairman of Jamaicans for Justice, Dr Barry Wade is today insisting that the interim board of the human rights lobby group was constitutionally appointed.

JFJ has been plunged into crisis over its unauthorised implementation of a sex education course in six privately-run children’s homes.

The human rights group has also been facing a leadership meltdown following mass resignations and counterclaims over who is responsible for the introduction of anal and oral sex content as part of the course.

The interim board was appointed last week during an emergency meeting of JFJ’s membership.

However, following the announcement, questions have been raised in some sectors about the constitutionality of the board.

According to the Interim Chairman, the group’s constitution gives remaining board members the authority to co-opt to the JFJ.

He says this is what was done for the interim board.
Peace and tolerance

H

Jamaicans for Justice Slowly Recovers & Appoints an Interim Board

Dr Barry Wade 

The very foundation of human-rights lobby group Jamaicans For Justice was jolted by the public condemnation of a controversial sex-education programme which was introduced into six private children's homes and the subsequent resignation of four board members, including long-time faces Dr Carolyn Gomes (Carolyn Gomes resigns as JFJ Board Member, JFJ Apologises For controversial Sex Education Course) and Susan Goffe (Influential Susan Gofffe Resigns from JFJ .............New ED "If I Was Aware Of Sex-Ed Programme 'I Would No....)and executive director Kay Osborne in recent months.

The fallout prompted members of the 15-year-old organisation to call for an extraordinary board meeting, and it is coming out of that meeting that Dr Barry Wade and other interim board members were co-opted.

The other members of the board are Christine Dalrymple, Horace Levy, Michael Lumsden, Allan Martin, Carla Gulotta, David Silvera (treasurer of previous board), Clifton McKenzie (also a member of former board), Roje Malcolm and Susan Mah Leung Evans (who had both resigned from prior board).

Wade has cited the first order of business as being that of repairing the organisation's tarnished reputation.

"An advocacy group has to have credibility; it needs the support of civil society," Wade, who is the former general manager of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica and the chairman of Environmental Solutions Limited, told The Gleaner. "If civil society are unsure of what we are about, then they won't support us. The present controversy has thrown a spanner in the way people see us and so rebuilding our image clearly is what we have to pay attention to. But it is not an event, it is a process."

Upcoming election

The appointment of a full board is expected to be undertaken within the next three months, when there will be a nomination process and election among the paying members, who currently stand at approximately 50 despite the number of persons on roll standing at somewhere in the hundreds. In the interim, however, Wade and his team will seek to get the organisation's house in order.

"This is a transitional period, so other than arranging for the election of a full board, it will be to steady the organisation and make sure that we fulfil all our obligations to our funding agencies and that we have the staff in place to continue," Wade shared. "With the resignation of the ED (executive director) there is a big gap in the organisation, and members of the organisation have volunteered to come in and help get things going again."

Wade, who is seriously considering offering himself up for the post of permanent chairman, believes the organisation will have to work feverishly to make up for lost time, but is confident that they can get back on course.

"We have to play catch-up because we have lost some time with all that has been going on and the resignations, but I have no doubt that we will be able to settle down pretty quickly," Wade reasoned.

Speaking on Beyond The Headlines on RJR yesterday Dr Wade also cleared up the controversial sex education fiasco in a sense that caused the implosion in the first place the perception that they were a cloak for gay organizations, he denied that allegation and went on to explain in a sense the materials delivered were for the instructors firstly then to selected teens for the cohort, also he went on to elaborate that there were sections of the materials that spoke to the illegality of buggery and the law but they recognized that the cohort may have children who were abused so they needed the course. "The material stated what was illegal ....... including what people find offensive anal sex" he said.

Dr Wade also said he did not believe the course was not inappropriate given the above reasons ".....the program was designed to help them avoid, protect themselves and of by chance and how to deal with it thereafter, how to report it." "It is a reality for children in Jamaica that many of them are buggered by adults and they have no recourse in institutions to adequately deal with it and it's that reality Jamaicans for Justice delivered a program with the help of the institutions to help the youngsters.

As for the CDA he said the remit of JFJ was to deal with the boards of the institutions and its their responsibility via the memorandum of understanding with the homes' management. Here I will have to disagree with Dr Wade as the law is clear on the vetting of courses and outsiders entering homes under the aegis of the CDA, the question that must be asked as I have done before if the Sunbeam Home as said publicly submitted in their monthly report the course activity then why did the CDA miss that to arrive at a conclusion of ignorance of a six month long course and why didn't the monitoring officers via conversations with the wards as the have direct access to them and can bypass the homes' management to do so could not ferrett any information regarding the course?

Did the CDA lie to the public when they claimed ignorance of the 6 or 7 month long course by JFJ?

Meanwhile some of the antigay voices who created mass hysteria about this via Jamaica CAUSE and the Professor Bain issue were obviously cautious and most hypocritical in my view in answering a question as to reestablish trust in Jamaicans for Justice in their answers, they steered clear of the sex education course as the facts slowly come forth despite it was not cleared by the constituted authority that being the CDA - Child Development Agency as required by law.

Daniel Thomas, president of the Love March Movement: A lot of damage has been done, so the group might even have to consider a name change. However, I won't dispute that the organisation has done some good work over the years, and nothing is impossible. It is critical that transparency and collaboration are ingredients that the new board will be willing to employ in the interest of the Jamaican people.

Betty-Ann Blaine, an advocate for children: This is a gentleman (Dr Barry Wade) who I have some knowledge about and I think has a reputable image. From my experience, I know that he is very passionate about social issues, including the plight of the poor, among other social ills. Clearly, he has a big job on his hands in restoring the trust of the Jamaican people and restoring the image of the organisation, but I am confident that it can happen. also see: The Deliberate Misuse of the “Sexual Grooming” Term by Antigay Fanatics to Promote Their Hysteria and Betty Ann Blaine Deliberately Conflates Same Gender Attraction & Child Abuse at Christian Anti Gay Mass Rally

Clifford Blake, deputy commissioner of police: I don't know much about the board ,so I wouldn't want to comment much on that, but we (Jamaica Constable Force) have worked well with past boards and we have no problem working with this current board, once it is in the best interest of the Jamaican people.

Bishop Rowan Edwards, immediate past president of the Jamaica Association of Full Gospel Churches: I thank God for this new board. I would hope that the leader has prepared himself to be scrutinized, to be guided and to collaborate. Everyone deserves a second chance and despite the damage that has been done, there is room for restoration. I also call on the Jamaican people to cooperate.

The funders Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition, CVCC of the sex education course are quiet as a mouse as Mrs Carolyn Gomes is their new Executive Director from as early as December 2013 I would have thought that despite the aura of the JFJ being lured or smoothered by a gay lobby that they would have categorically denied such claims but the incestuous nature of these coalitions once again makes identity separation near impossible. Thanks however to an active membership of JFJ they have taught us that transparency, fiduciary responsibility and good governance the very principles which made the JFJ what it is has won in a sense, some LGBTQ groups and individuals in Jamaica could learn a thing or two from all this.

I hope the JFJ does not flinch though from working with LGBT groups and individuals from now on but will be careful in its scrutiny and adaptation of areas they may want to cover. I Hope they can get over this perception as painted and set by the Gleaner when the story broke: Back-Door Deal - Gay Lobby Funds JFJ Sex Education Course, Slipped Into Children's Homes says Gleaner

also see:
More Overreaction to the Jamaicans for Justice Sex Education Course & Media Senationalism

Former JFJ Head Carolyn Gomes Distances Self From Controversial Sex Ed Material

Old Guard vs New Guard War of Words at JFJ on Sex Education Course that bypassed CDA

UPDATE August 4

KINGSTON, Jamaica:
Interim chairman of Jamaicans for Justice, Dr Barry Wade is today insisting that the interim board of the human rights lobby group was constitutionally appointed.

JFJ has been plunged into crisis over its unauthorised implementation of a sex education course in six privately-run children’s homes.

The human rights group has also been facing a leadership meltdown following mass resignations and counterclaims over who is responsible for the introduction of anal and oral sex content as part of the course.

The interim board was appointed last week during an emergency meeting of JFJ’s membership.

However, following the announcement, questions have been raised in some sectors about the constitutionality of the board.

According to the Interim Chairman, the group’s constitution gives remaining board members the authority to co-opt to the JFJ.

He says this is what was done for the interim board.

ENDS

UPDATE Press Release from JFJ on Interim Board 

Tuesday, August 5, 2014, Kingston, Jamaica

The interim Board of JFJ has been publicly challenged to state whether it is legitimately constituted. The following sets out the process by which the current directors of the Board came to their positions

JFJ was incorporated under the Companies Act on 15 October 1999. The Companies Act and more specifically its Articles of Association are the relevant governance instruments. The relevant sections of the Articles of Association that guided the process are Clauses 31, 45, 48 and 49.

Clause 31 provides that the minimum number of directors shall be seven, unless otherwise determined by a general meeting of the company.

Clause 45 provides that the directors may appoint any person to be a director, either to fill a casual vacancy or as an additional director. A director appointed under this provision holds office until the next annual general meeting and he or she shall be eligible for re-election.

The quorum for directors meetings is fixed by the directors but shall, if not fixed by the directors be three. (Clause 48)

During the course of the weeks and days leading up to the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on July 29, which had been called by the Board at the request of members, the number of directors fell below the minimum number of three. The resignations did not take place en bloc, but rather at different points in time, all prior to the date of the EGM. Clause 49 of the Articles was invoked.

Clause 49 provides: “The continuing directors may act notwithstanding any vacancy in their body, but, if and so long as their number is reduced below the number fixed by or pursuant to the articles of the company the necessary quorum of directors, the continuing directors or director may act for the purpose of increasing the number of directors to that number…

Following lengthy discussions of the developments in JFJ, the two remaining board members asked the members assembled at the EGM to indicate whom of their number were prepared to be co-opted to serve on an interim board. The purpose was to ensure a democratic input into the decisions that only the remaining 2 board members could exercise under Clause 49 of JFJ’s Articles of Association. The members present at the EGM indicated their preferences. The EGM was suspended and the existing Board members deliberated and made the appointments recommended by the members present at the EGM. The eight additional directors appointed brought the number of directors up to ten, above the minimum seven required for the full functioning of the Board.

The Board is an interim one because the provisions of Clause 45 limit the tenure of all of the members appointed by the remaining 2 directors till the next annual general meeting of JFJ.

The Board will focus on the following steps to be taken over the next three months to (a) review the recent developments, (b) steady the organisation, and (c) arrange for the holding of an annual general meeting in view of the provisions of Clause 45 of the Articles of Association.

The current Board is properly constituted under JFJ’s Articles of Association, with the full authority to conduct the business of the organization until the next annual general meeting, which in the normal course of events would be held in March or April next year. However, it was the view of the membership at the EGM and the decision of the current Board that it would be prudent to hold an AGM at the earliest possible date to allow for the election of a new Board of directors.

ENDS

The current board members are:

Dr. Barry Wade (Chairperson)
Christine Dalrymple (Secretary)
Susan Evans (Treasurer)
Horace Levy (also of JCSC)
Rodje Malcolm
Allan Martin
Michael Lumsden
Carla Gullotta (formerly of Amnesty Europe & CVCC)
Clifton McKenzie

Peace and tolerance

H

Old Guard vs New Guard War of Words at JFJ on Sex Education Course that bypassed CDA

This unraveling in the public domain is embarrassing for the JFJ a noble group funded on such strong principles and where is CVCC the LGBT coalition that funded the course in the first place? quiet as a lamb all this while they both bypassing the constituted authority for children's homes, it is one thing to implement a well needed course but it is totally another when the law of the land is passed. The CDA's monitoring system could and should have picked up on the near eight month activity but they claimed they didn't and now this fiasco albeit Mrs Gomes now proudly heads the CVCC, incestuous mess anyone?

The Observer reported 

HUMAN rights lobby group Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) says after reviewing the controversial sex education manual it has come to the conclusion that the children who were exposed to inappropriate material could have been psychologically harmed.

But the group's claim that its board of directors was not fully informed of the content of the programme has been stoutly denied by Dr Carolyn Gomes, the former JFJ executive director who now heads the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVCC).

In a release on Friday, JFJ accepted culpability for not vetting the material properly and placed the blame squarely at the feet of its board of directors.

"Children in some of the homes may have been exposed to content that might not have been appropriate for their age. This possibility arose from weaknesses in the oversight and vetting process. The board of directors is responsible for the deficiency in the vetting process," the group admitted in a release to the media on Friday.

The controversial Healthy Sexual Growth and Development in Marginalised Youth: Rights, Responsibilities and Life Skills manual, JFJ said, was an educational programme designed to "engender responsible attitudes in marginalised youth towards their sexual and reproductive health in order to reduce the incidence of HIV infections in the adolescent population". The programme was implemented in six children's homes and ran for eight months from October 2013 though to May 2014.

Some 80 caregivers were trained by JFJ facilitators between November 2013 and February 2014.

As many as 176 children were trained between January 2014 and May 2014. Training was conducted by the JFJ facilitators. Several children younger than 13 were exposed to different modules in several of the children's homes, the JFJ admitted.

"We were unable to confirm which module or modules or what content these children were exposed to," the release said.

JFJ also admitted that:

* The programme content and methodology were not vetted by the board of directors of JFJ before being implemented;

* The programme content was not signed off by project partner, Family Planning Association of Jamaica (FamPlan); and

* Some of the content in Module 5 -- Gender, and Module 6 -- Sexuality and Society would be inappropriate if not delivered by someone properly trained to children who were not properly prepared to receive it.

"We were not able to determine conclusively if children were exposed to material not appropriate for their age or development. However, this possibility cannot be ruled out," the group said.

The project, the rights group said, was implemented by it pursuant to a call for proposals from the CVCC/Centre for Integral Orientation and Investigation (COIN) in April 18 2013.

"The then Executive Director Carolyn Gomes developed a proposal to provide marginalised youth in children's homes with rights-based information on sexual and reproductive rights and submitted it in June 2013. The proposal was successful and the contract for the execution of the project was signed by Gomes on behalf of JFJ on October 17, 2013," JFJ said.

"Course content was developed from material provided by FAMPLAN, CVCC/COIN and various other publicly available sources. FAMPLAN did not sign off on the final course content. The content was intended to be delivered to children between the ages 13 and 17," the release said..

JFJ said Gomes delivered three secretariat reports in 2013 to its monthly board meetings and the programme was mentioned. However, the full content was never brought to the board, the group said.

"This is not unusual as programme details were not normally presented at board meetings," the release said.

The group also pointed out that its current Executive Director Kay Osborne was appointed on April 1 this year and had no involvement in the design and implementation of the controversial project.

Instead, JFJ claimed that Gomes designed, developed, negotiated and contracted the project with funding arranged by CVCC.

"The project began implementation in October 2013 under the direct guidance of Dr Gomes. In December 2013 when Dr Gomes demitted office as executive director she did not provide the board of directors with complete information on the project, notwithstanding that she continued to sit on the board until her resignation on June 17, 2014. There were material deviations to the project proposal that affected the development and implementation of the project. The project proposal required that FAMPLAN sign off on the material to be presented to the wards. This was not done."

The group also said the board was unable to determine who actually prepared that material.

"At no point did Dr Carolyn Gomes or anyone else, either in writing or verbally, indicate to Ms Osborne that JFJ was implementing a programme in children's homes to decrease the spread of HIV/AIDS or one in which sex education is taught. We are further satisfied that Ms Osborne was unaware of the content of the said programme modules and no aspect of the same formed any part of her job description since she was appointed executive director," JFJ said.

"Against this background, the board of directors regrets these occurrences and concludes that children in some of the homes may have been exposed to content that might not have been appropriate for their age. This possibility arose from weaknesses in the oversight and vetting process. The board of directors accepts that there were deficiencies in the vetting process and holds itself fully accountable," the group admitted.

But yesterday, Dr Gomes said although she designed the project, the accusation by JFJ that she did not share the information with the board is erroneous.

"After we drew a proposal I shared it with the then chairperson by e-mail before it was submitted. And then every month after that I reported to the board right through until October when we won the grant," Dr Gomes told the Sunday Observer.

Dr Gomes said when there was a call for proposals in April 2013 she discussed the matter with the members of JFJ to include representatives from FAMPLAN.

"We set out some preliminary thoughts and I shared them with the head of the Child's Rights Working Group... because the board of JFJ operates through various groups and teams and they oversee the Child's Rights Working Group," Gomes explained. "And this was by e-mail from April of last year. So they knew what we were thinking of doing before we even did it."

She explained that the proposal was mentioned in the secretariat report but became a full report in the communications report to the board which set out in detail what was to be done regarding the project.

Gomes explained, too, that the full details of the project were included in the November and December reports to the board.

"This was circulated by e-mail and then tabled in hard copy at the board meetings," Gomes said. "So to say that the board was not informed by myself and the team at the office is completely erroneous. If you don't choose to read your reports that are presented to you, then I don't know on what basis one operates. How does one operate other than providing reports? So, for example, in November the headline was CVC COIN project: Healthy sexual growth and development in marginal youth, rights, responsibilities and life skills," she explained.

She noted that during the reporting period activities undertaken were outlined detailing the preliminary organising and training, with official letters seeking permission sent to six privately owned children's homes detailing the goals and objectives of the project.

"So to say that I didn't brief them clearly isn't accurate," she said. "And I have proof that they were briefed."

She explained that when she handed over the reins in January this year, the project was still being developed.

"All the way to June of this year, two newsletters were done about it and shared with the board and with the membership, so I don't know how they didn't know about it," Gomes said.

She said the head of the Child's Right Working Group, with whom she shared documents in April before the group wrote the project, reported on it to the Annual General Meeting in April.

"So the members were told from April about information on the project, so not only was it reported on but the chairperson reported on it herself to the membership."

Gomes said Osborne got involved in the project earlier in May when there was a glitch in the delivery and the project implementer asked for her assistance in getting some of the workshops delivered at John Bosco Boys' Home due to a scheduling issue.

Gomes said it was Osborne who asked that the project be continued by a sister at that boys' home when concerns were voiced by a member of the school that time was against them.

"So I don't know how she could have said she didn't know what she was asking the sister to continue," Gomes said. "And then after that she appeared on Live at 7 to talk about how this project was good. And she also drafted a press release to Ms [Lisa] Hanna at the end of May which spoke about our work in children's homes," Gomes said.

Despite being at the centre of the controversy, Gomes said she had no input in the review that was just concluded.

"I have my responses prepared, but I have not shared them with anybody because no one in particular asked for them," she said after explaining that two letters were sent to her on Monday but she was not sure of the authenticity of the requests as they were unsigned.

"So the review proceeded without my input and it proceeded without the input of the chief implementer from the organisation. I am aware that the chief staff person in charge of the project was not questioned about the project during the review period. Nor was the trained social worker, a volunteer posted by CUSO who also worked on the project," Gomes said. "It is unclear who conducted the review but I am aware that there was no meeting of the board to discuss and agree on the findings of the review prior to it being sent to the media."

Former JFJ Head Carolyn Gomes Distances Self From Controversial Sex Ed Material

also see: Why did CVCC & JFJ not Fund a Project/Home for Homeless LGBT Youth in New Kingston instead of the Children’s Home Fiasco

As the days progress following the initial CVC funded sex education manual matter died down as many thought another nine day wonder it seems the papers are still on a witch hunt seeing that the Child Development Agency interim report has not coughed up anything substantial nor has the police investigation to find someone to punish for these: slides all because they mention buggery and anal sex but take note one of the pages made it clear that buggery is illegal:

All due to teaching person early what they ought to know and to think there are other criminals out there that need this but we also not forget the CDA was bypassed which is a critical issue.

It is bad enough that the Observer carried yesterday a similar line as if to suggest Mrs Gomes also did not vet the content with the board when best practice suggest that board do not usual get involved at the micro management level of such things The JO article read in part: "THE content of the controversial sex education programme implemented by Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) in six privately run children’s homes did not get approval from the human rights organisation’s board.

That admission was made by Dr Carolyn Gomes in her resignation letter as a board member, a copy of which was obtained by the Jamaica Observer. Gomes, in her June 17 letter to JFJ chair Lisa Lakhan-Chen, took responsibility for the development of the project and the beginning of the implementation process, which, she said, occurred in the period October 2013 to December 2013 before she demitted office as executive director of the organisation.
“The project continued after I left, but at no time while I was [in] office did the specific content of the programme get board approval. For this I take full responsibility,” Gomes said in her letter.
It was not clear who had responsibility for the programme after Gomes left the organistion. However, JFJ has said that it began in January 2014, was focused on youth aged 13-17, and contained eight modules — ABCs of Human Rights; Sexual and Reproductive Rights and Responsibilities; Puberty, Reproduction and Body Image; Sexual and Reproductive Health; Gender; Sexuality and Society; Relationships; and Communication and Decision-Making Skills.

Gomes resigned as protests crescendoed over the programme that critics said was inappropriate for children as it contained lessons on oral, anal and vaginal penetration.

Titled ‘Healthy Sexual Growth and Development in Marginalised Youth: Rights, Responsibilities, and Life Skills’, the project was funded by the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVCC), the group that Gomes now serves as executive director following her resignation from a similar post at JFJ.

Responding to the howls of criticism, JFJ’s board of directors accepted “full and unconditional responsibility for not vetting the programme content and its release” and promised to take remedial action. At the same time, Youth and Culture Minister Lisa Hanna referred the manuals used in the programme to Attorney General Patrick Atkinson and Children’s Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison.

Specifically, Hanna has asked both Atkinson and Gordon Harrison for advice on what legal recourse is available to her ministry and/or the Child Development Agency (CDA). Hanna took the decision after it emerged that the programme was implemented without the knowledge of the CDA. Last week, the police announced that they are investigating the matter with a view to identifying possible breaches of the acts protecting children.
But Gomes, in her resignation letter, said she was “comfortable that the content provides accurate and globally accepted information about sexual and reproductive health and rights”.

However, she said she accepted that there was a “difference in commitment” to the programme between her and the JFJ board.

ENDS 

Lisa Hanna in a previous post took a swipe at JFJ at a recent function where she spoke see more HERE, the Gleaner today though decided to carry this - Claims and counterclaims are being thrown around in the controversy surrounding a sex-education manual which allegedly was wrongfully delivered in some children's home across the island.

Dr Carolyn Gomes, former executive director of Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), has distanced herself from the controversial sections of the manual that was reported to have been surreptitiously delivered in the six privately run children's homes.

Following media reports that in a confidential letter to the board of JFJ she had taken responsibility for the underhanded way in which the content entered the homes, Gomes fired back yesterday, stating she was not at the helm of the human-rights group when the sections on oral and anal sex was developed and delivered in the homes.

"The content of the modules which make reference to anal sex and oral sex, were developed and delivered during the months of April and May 2014 when the executive director was Ms Kay Osborne," Gomes said in her response to the story.

Osborne took over as executive director from Gomes late last year.

Gomes said "It would have been Osborne's responsibility to bring the controversial content to the attention of JFJ's board."

JFJ response

However, in a release yesterday, JFJ said that based on its review, Osborne had nothing to do with the development, implementation, preparation and/or approval of the content of the Healthy Sexual Growth and Development in Marginalised Youth: Rights, Responsibilities and Life Skills project.

"At no point during this period did Dr Gomes, either in writing or verbally, indicate to Ms Osborne that JFJ was implementing a project of this nature. It is, therefore, wholly inaccurate to attribute responsibility to Ms Osborne for the content of the modules or for her to bring that content to the attention of the Board of JFJ," the statement read.

Gomes resigned from JFJ's board in June after arguments swirled that the project was inappropriate for the children it was meant to target in the homes, and permission was not granted for its delivery.

The Child Development Agency (CDA), which supervises the homes, has said it had no knowledge of the course.

Youth and Culture Minister Lisa Hanna has since referred the matter to Attorney General Patrick Atkinson and Children's Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison to investigate whether or not her office or the CDA can take action.

ENDS

Nationwide carried a short audio clip with Mrs Gomes from overseas:

When will this end dear God?

But also let us look at another aspect of the conflict of interest in as far as CVCC is concerned and why haven't they been mentioned more on this part of the approval or vetting of the manual or its content seeing that they funded the activity?

Peace & Tolerance

H

The Hunt for Blood Continues ..... JFJ/CVCC Children’s Homes Sex-Ed Programme Under Police Investigation

So the hysteria and over reactions continue from a state perspective now as the Gleaner reported this morning, obviously those who are now crying foul where waiting to pounce on JFJ I fear as since they have been at the forefront of pointing out the flaws in governance over the years from government agencies and indeed child care facilities. It was the JFJ's public advocacy that brought to everyone's attention on the mixed populations of children in state institutions and maximum security lock-ups with adults at the same time which left successive administrations embarrassed, so what an opportune moment to capitalise on the one time the JFJ slips up on not getting the go ahead from the CDA regarding the sex ed course and to think there is hardly any damaging material contained therein as most of the 150 paged instructor's version is complementary to the very CDA and Office of the Children's Advocate:

for e. g. pages 124/5 is clear as to Sexual Offences Act et

page 109 appropriately deals with norms and attitudes"

Yet lies are told by persons like Betty Ann Blaine on television that the manual said anal sex is ok as she did on morning time on TVJ recently to push her own maligning agenda.

Now the Gleaner said:

The Police High Command has disclosed that an investigation has been launched into the allegations of unapproved sexual material being taught in some privately owned children’s homes.

The Police says among the issues being looked at into are reports of breaches of the Child Care and Protection Act and the Offences Against the Person Act.

However, the police say the matter is at a sensitive stage and that given the nature of the allegations not much can be said at this time.

The sex education programme was implemented by Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) in six privately-run children’s homes without the permission of the youth minister, Lisa Hanna.

She has referred the manuals used by the group in its programme to the Children’s Advocate and the Attorney General to determine whether the Government can take any legal action.

An interim report from the Child Development Agency has found that there were several breaches of Jamaican regulations when the controversial sex education programme was implemented.

ENDS

The CDA interim report claims breaches were done but the hype and alarm that is being created here is totally unnecessary as far as I am concerned, sensational headlines such as those from the Gleaner have been fast and furious imputing all kinds of motives as fear takes over where good sense should prevail, homophobia indeed, stories such as "JFJ Sex-Ed Controversy Deepens … Children’s Homes Received Money For Training" suggests someone was paid to do some coercion to get the homes to accept the course when all that it was is the typical logistical costs involved in such project delivery. Yet the story did not actually have the dollar value of the "monetary contribution" which shows the tabloid journalistic nature the story has taken by the old lady from North Street.

The CDA interim report claims:

And the hypocrisy continues out there all predicated on misunderstanding, misuse and misinformation alongside clever deception in the very religious anti gay groups themselves. 

Check out my extended podcast on this matter in great detail as I pull together some of the discourse on radio and otherwise to show the clear deceptive agenda of these so called Christian groups.

also see 

More Overreaction to the Jamaicans for Justice Sex Education Course & Media Senationalism 

Hardened Positions by Religious Fanatics & Their LGBT Detractors Will Only Leave More Blood on the Floor

Anti Gay Voice & 'Child Rights' Advocate Betty-Ann Blaine Taken to Task on Public Advocacy

Why did CVCC & JFJ not Fund a Project/Home for Homeless LGBT Youth in New Kingston instead of the Children’s Home Fiasco that now obtains?

Peace and tolerance

H

More Overreaction to the Jamaicans for Justice Sex Education Course & Media Senationalism

I have to agree with Lloyd D'Agular (HOT12FM) and Dionne Jackson Miller (RJR 94FM & TVJ's All Angles) both competent radio hosts as to how this matter with the JFJ unapproved sex ed course (funded by CVCC) has played out in recent days. I am sure the opportunists are now going to jump on this like white on rice to bolster their anti gay stance. Ms Carolyn Gomes since her resignation from the JFJ (and secondment to CVCC) an organization she helped to found has become the lightening rod for antigay voices and uninformed followers with strong support from certain so called Journalists in parading this issue as an attempt to sneak in homosexuality through the back door, problem is this was in the front door frankly and if the CDA were doing their job properly they ought to have know that the course was on schedule since the reporting mechanisms by the homes to the CDA had included the activity in some of the six privately run institutions who participated.

this "poll" on the Jamaica Observer site (June 2014) and how the questions is framed just shows the backwardness out there and from places that ought to know better:

Here is the actual statement from the CDA take care to observe the alarmist tone and the subsequent interim report that suggests the analysis done so far to ascertain f there was trauma to the persons exposed to the materials; as if to suggest the teenagers for the most part will be "damaged" from learning or taught in a multi-hour set of sessions that anal sex is risky for HIV transmission. I am astonished as to the ridiculousness of all this and the hysteria that has been built up around this.

The statement from the CDA:

The Child Development Agency is seeking to determine the circumstances under which Jamaicans for Justice has been implementing a pilot programme titled, “Realising Sexual and Reproductive Health Responsibly” in six private residential child care facilities.

CDA which has responsibility for the regulation of children’s homes and places of safety only became aware of the initiative through a newsletter issued by the JFJ last week which stated that the programme began in October last year and is due to be completed next month.

JFJ did not seek the permission of the CDA to operate the programme in the homes, neither was the Agency informed, consulted or provided with the curriculum to review prior to the start of the programme. The CDA’s parent Ministry — Ministry of Youth and Culture — has also confirmed it was not aware of the programme.

It has been the custom for groups doing major interventions in residential child care facilities to contact the CDA for approval and provide details of the programme. Groups that are are granted permission are required to sign confidentiality agreements to ensure the privacy of the children is protected.

As the Government entity charged with the care and protection of Jamaica’s children, the CDA must at all times ensure that material and information being imparted to children in the care of the State are in their best interest – contributing to their positive mental growth and development while enabling them to make positive choices for their lives.

The Agency is concerned that there was no consultation or opportunity to review the curriculum prior to the start of the JFJ programme to ensure the material was age-appropriate and consistent with regulations governing the care of wards of the State.

The CDA welcomes the partnership of non-governmental organisations, public sector groups, faith-based bodies, international organisations and concerned citizens to enhance the operations of residential child care facilities, however it is our duty to ensure that this support is carried out in a manner that protects the best interests of our children.

The operations of privately-operated residential child care facilities are regulated by the CDA through the Child Care and Protection Act, Children’s Home Regulations, and the Guidance & Standard of Care for Residential Child Care Facilities, which outlines levels of care for children in the care of the State. In addition, the CDA provides budgetary support to privately-operated facilities to ensure standards of care. For financial year 2014-2015, the CDA is projected to spend in excess of $722 million in support of the operations of privately-operated residential child care facilities.

ENDS

One of the homes had spoken up on the issue:

Indeed I will admit the JFJ erred in not getting the go ahead from the CDA but will they have gotten it though judging by the current paranoid reactions we are seeing now? Let us bear in mind it is only one or two pages that is causing all this furore from a 148/50 paged multi moduled document:

Now comes the Gleaner and Observer headlines both of whom seem to be relishing the opportunity to get back Ms Gomes especially since the near ill-fated press conference some days before and the walk out by "journalists" from the outlets. The deliberate conflation with the Child Care and Protection Act with the Offences Against the Persons Act is disturbing as well, they published such openly this morning:

preview the actual JFJ sex ed material HERE (the instructor's version) which may not be presented in its entirety to the respected audiences as it most materials similar in nature.

JFJ's reputation has certainly taken a hit as they have built their name over the years on transparency and rights coupled with citizen vigilance, to now watch this issue play out going against their own tenets is disturbing indeed and to think also that CVCC mostly made up of LGBT groups and their membership has completely ignored the main welfare issues surrounding LGBT homelessness as evidenced in New Kingston for years on end yet found it necessary to use this circumlocutory way to teach sex education.

The Gleaner obviously is having a field day on this with their tabloid types journalism on this specific matter while their editorials mostly written by non gleaner staff have been balanced, the article read in part:

Edmond Campbell, Senior Staff Reporter

THE SIX privately run children's homes that gave approval for Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) to introduce an unauthorised sex- education programme in their institutions have been accused of breaching child-care regulations and could face tough sanctions.

An interim report submitted to Youth Minister Lisa Hanna by the Child Development Agency (CDA) found that the operators, "by sanctioning and giving approval for the training", breached Regulation 15(1) and 15(2) of the Child Care and Protection (Children's Home) Regulations, because they did not seek the minister's approval.

Hanna yesterday gave the directors of the homes seven days to respond to the CDA's initial findings.

The institutions have admitted that they did not get permission from the CDA which has responsibility for the regulation of children's homes. A breach of the licence granted to operate a children's home could result in its revocation or suspension, according to Children's Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison.

Gordon Harrison told The Gleaner yesterday that the portfolio minister could also go to the courts seeking a court order to have the children removed from the homes.

At the same time, a preliminary report submitted to Hanna by the CDA surrounding the circumstances under which JFJ implemented the controversial material into the homes, has revealed that the rights' group paid at least five of the institutions $10,000 each for use of their premises for training. One facility has not disclosed the amount it received.

It has been established that 135 children across the six child-care facilities participated in the JFJ training. The CDA has said data received from at least two homes indicate that the majority of children who participated in the training at the facilities were under 16 years old, the age of consent.

"Of the combined 51 children who took part, 31 were under the age of 16. The group included an 11-year- old, a 12-year-old and 10 children aged 13.

During the training exercise, the CDA said refreshments were served and at least one home reported that bags containing pens, footballs and brochures were given to the children who participated in the programme.

The training programme, Realising Sexual and Reproductive Health Responsibility: JFJ's Pilot Intervention in Children's Homes, was conducted in the Alpha Boys Home, St John Bosco, Jamaica National Children's Home, Sunbeam Children's Home for Boys, Elsie Bemand Home for Girls and Best Care Foundation.

The CDA has reported that the six facilities were contacted directly by representatives of JFJ by way of telephone and later by email and letter. The administrators of the homes were advised by JFJ that the workshop was being held in other homes, and that they were selected to participate.

Already, the children's home affair has led to the resignation of one of the founders of JFJ, Dr Carolyn Gomes, who at the time of her departure was a board member.

Gomes had negotiated and signed the contract with the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC) Coalition in April 2013 for the introduction of the programme in the homes.

Gomes is now co-chair of the CVC Coalition.

In the meantime, the CDA is reporting that it received a copy of the material used in the JFJ training programme and a review of the contents found that sections were "inappropriate for the age cohort and a departure from that approved by the Ministry of Education for use in public schools".

The CDA noted that brochures from the Ministry of Health used in the training exercise were in keeping with standard material used in schools. However, it said other modules, for example, module six on Sexuality and Society (Sexuality and Sexual Practices) by unknown authors which explained the use of condoms in anal sex were not age-appropriate.

According to the CDA, this could be deemed to be in contravention of the Offences Against the Person Act, sections 76 and 79, which sees such acts as illegal. The Office of the Children's Registry (OCR) is also conducting a comprehensive investigation into the matter. Gordon Harrison told The Gleaner yesterday that the OCR's probe could take up to three months.

ENDS

meanwhile the Observer deceptively tries to use the stipended arrangement as a bribery attempt to make the engagement an unethical one, those of whose are in the business for years know there are such arrangement to cover logistical costs and reimburse persons or pay for the use of spaces for such facilitation work.

"YOUTH and Culture Minister Lisa Hanna says appropriate action will be taken against human rights lobby group Jamaicans For Justice (JFJ) and the six children's homes where children were exposed to controversial sexual content.

In a release to the media yesterday, following receipt of the Child Development Agency (CDA) report on the controversial sex education programme, Hanna said she was particularly upset that JFJ did not advise the CDA about the 'Realising Sexual and Reproductive Health Responsibly' programme — the title given to the JFJ's pilot intervention in children's homes — and that the programme represented possible breaches of the Child Care and Protection Act and the Offences Against The Person Act.

Hanna, meanwhile, questioned why the homes did not advise the CDA about the programme, although they were visited by the agency's monitoring officers.

"A review of the content of the material found that parts of the training material were inappropriate for the age cohort and a departure from that approved by the Ministry of Education for use in public schools. Legal advice will have to be sought to determine if its presentation contravened any existing laws [as] information gleaned from the focus groups sessions in the homes confirmed that the training material was delivered," the minister said.

The offensive material was imparted to children at:

* Alpha Boys' Home;

* St John Bosco;

* Jamaica National Children's Home;

* Sunbeam Children's Home for Boys;

* Elsie Bemand Home for Girls; and

* Best Care Foundation.

"The administrators of the facilities gave approval to the JFJ for the implementation of the sexual education programme through MOUs. It was confirmed that the six homes each received a monetary contribution from the JFJ for use of their premises for the training," Hanna said.

Each home received at least $10,000 from JFJ, the CDA's investigation found.

"The operators of the six homes, by sanctioning and giving approval for the training, breached Regulation 15 (1) and 15 (2) of the Child Care and Protection (Children's Home) Regulations, in not seeking approval from the minister," Hanna said, in response to the CDA report.

Some 135 children in the six child-care facilities participated in the programme, according to the CDA. The majority of the children who participated in the programme were under the age of 16, including an 11-year-old, a 12-year-old, and 10 children who were age 13.

"I was taught that anal sex is not healthy for the body, but if one wants to have anal sex it is his rights and no one should try to hurt that individual," the CDA report quoted one of the children interviewed. Another child related that "I was taught that someone can get infection in the mouth from oral sex".

Another related that they were not influenced to do anal or oral sex but "it is a choice". Also, another related that he learned that there are individuals who are homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual.

Hanna said yesterday that a team of social workers was dispatched to offer counselling to the children and was mandated to determine if any psychological or traumatic fallout occurred due to the sex education programme.

The minister said, too, that a further review of any impact on the children will be assessed when the social workers produce a report of their findings and a decision will be made to determine whether extensive counselling will be needed to reverse any negative impact on the affected children.

ENDS

As I had said in a previous entry on this blog, The most recent data of adolescents in Jamaica in terms of 13 to 17 year olds 58.4% of that cohort say they are already having sex from an early age i. e. Out of 10, 5 of them are active from early, with multiple partners or more than two partners in one year. Seven out of every ten students aged 17 are already sexually active at a rate of 73% so we better stop fooling ourselves if we think sanitizing and deceptively misrepresenting terminologies to preserve some imagined public good somewhere is going to solve the present issues. 

The reproductive health five year studies over time seek to find among other things experimentation with masturbation where on each survey the figures are increasing albeit populations increase but the jump also occurs none the less. Teens are already practicing some sort of anal sex via sex toy or object usage (cucumbers or so) as one psychologist in her private practice Dr Sandra Knight linked to the National Family Planning Board suggested she has been seeing increased cases of such non vaginal sexual acts as done by teens in a recent radio discussion. She mentioned the coercion by girls of boys into sex has increased; the “rape” of boys by older girls especially has increased respectful as respectful interactions as it relates to coercion of sexuality are not taught in guidance counselling sessions in high schools, stable relationships are on the decline, wife swapping or swinging and transactional sex is almost normative in some school populations that were surveyed in the last go round. We need to get real and stop this mass hysteria and head hunting games while abuse continues and ignorance reigns.

see this CVM TV vox pop and the varied responses:

Opposition spokesperson on Youth & Culture Babsy Grange also joins the bandwagon with no real points to bring to bear from TVJ News, attempting scoring political points as per usual:

also see:
Anti Gay Voice & 'Child Rights' Advocate Betty-Ann Blaine Taken to Task on Public Advocacy

Jamaicans for Justice at 15 – a Turbulent Adolescence? (Dionne Jackson Miller's Blog) 

The Deliberate Misuse of the “Sexual Grooming” Term by Antigay Fanatics to Promote Their Hysteria

and the Observer tries to redeem itself after their gay baiting binge in recent weeks via this editorial: 

Homosexuality: the beast within (again)

also see 

More Overreaction to the Jamaicans for Justice Sex Education Course & Media Senationalism 

Hardened Positions by Religious Fanatics & Their LGBT Detractors Will Only Leave More Blood on the Floor

Anti Gay Voice & 'Child Rights' Advocate Betty-Ann Blaine Taken to Task on Public Advocacy

Why did CVCC & JFJ not Fund a Project/Home for Homeless LGBT Youth in New Kingston instead of the Children’s Home Fiasco that now obtains? 

Betty Ann Blaine's New Nation Coalition put out this release as it were:

"New Nation Coalition is calling upon Youth Minister, Lisa Hannah, to explain to the Jamaican people the circumstances under which specialized training in “sexual rights and discriminatory practices” is being delivered by Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) to children in six children’s homes without the knowledge and consent of the Child Development Agency (CDA), the entity responsible for the oversight of all children’s homes. New Nation is asking, “Was permission sought and given by the Youth Minister?”

New Nation has taken note that the CDA in a press release issued on July 12, 2014 expressed its own concerns that it was completely in the dark about JFJ’s training programme, and charged the organization with “violating procedure by undertaking an unauthorized intervention project…”, “What is the Minister prepared to do now that this violation has been made public?, New Nation asks.

New Nation has also taken note that to date, the names of the six children’s homes have not been disclosed. Children’s Advocate and New Nation Founder, Betty Ann Blaine wants to know, “Which homes are we talking about?, “Who runs these homes?, and what type of training are the children being exposed to?”
“Even more importantly is the matter of who the children are and what are their ages?, Blaine adds. “We have noticed that JFJ describes the children as “marginalized”, but that would apply to close to one-half of the Jamaican youth population. JFJ needs to explain to the Jamaican people exactly how “marginalized” the children they singled out are, and how different those children are from the large population of children who are vulnerable due largely to poverty, dispossession and poor parenting.” We are curious to know what criteria were used to identify and train this group of children.”

“We understand fully that children who are placed in institutions and become wards of the state are there under extenuating circumstances, and that is precisely why those children must be protected from certain types of training, and by the state which is in essence the “parent” of those children.”

New Nation is equally concerned that the stated support for the training project came from the newly formed, Dr. Carolyn Gomes’-led NGO, Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC). Asks Blaine, “Exactly which Jamaican children does CVC support and is CVC a grant-receiving or grant-making NGO?

“As a member of the NGO community, I find it interesting that funds for training seems to be geared to certain designated entities and not others. As far as I know there are a number of children’s NGO’s that are able to deliver training in health-related issues. Were any of them given the opportunity under this new funding mechanism?”, Blaine asks."

I ask what's the point or end game here?

Peace and tolerance

H