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Mary weeps again - Nearly 100 children die in state care over 3-year period
Published: Sunday | July 11, 2010 0 Comments and 0 Reactions
Clarke
Tyrone Reid, Sunday Gleaner Reporter
ALMOST 100 children died while in state care between 2005 and 2008 from varying causes including "pneumonia, drowning, head injuries, haemorrhage due to gunshot wounds, leptospirosis and stab wounds to the chest".
Statistics for 2009 and the first half of 2010 were not yet compiled.
Most of the deaths over the three-year period were due to natural causes, data provided by the Office of Children's Advocate (OCA) revealed, but Children's Advocate Mary Clarke is frustrated with "Government's tardiness in adequately caring for its wards.
In an interview with The Sunday Gleaner, she questioned whether anyone should be held criminally liable for the death of a child in the care of the State.
Dr Carolyn Gomes, a trained medical doctor and executive director of Jamaicans for Justice, was alarmed by many of the causes of death, which had a string of various strains of pneumonia figuring prominently on the list.
"In this day and age, children should not die of bronchopneumonia and dehydration. Those are treatable conditions.
"It would suggest that they were not taken for appropriate care in a timely fashion," Gomes explained as she pointed out that many of the illnesses listed as cause of death are not ailments that kill you immediately.
To compound the problem, several post-mortem and coroner's reports on the deaths of the children between 2005 and 2008 are still pending, and it has not yet been determined if anyone was criminally liable for the loss of life.
Official documents have revealed that of the approximately 89 deaths during the four-year period, at least six post-mortems were listed as pending.
While Clarke said she would leave that determination to trained medical professionals, she appealed for an injection of more trained personnel to attend to the needs of children with multiple disabilities.
"What I'm saying that I know categorically is that you don't have enough specialist staff to take care of children with disabilities," Clarke said.
"During the period January 2006 to the end of December 2007, 51 children died in these facilities. The majority died from natural causes and the others in sudden and/or accidental circumstances. Post-mortem reports are still pending for some of these children," noted Clarke in her 2007-2008 annual report to Parliament.
In a letter to Senator Dorothy Lightbourne, minister of justice and attorney general, dated December 10, 2008, Clarke highlighted the snail's pace at which coroner's inquests into the deaths of children being cared for by the State was moving.
"We wish to point out that of the 50 children who died in the childcare institutions in the past two years, coroner's inquest has only been held for one child thus far," read a section of the letter that opened with praise for the amendment to the Coroner's Act to deal with the backlog of cases in the Coroner's Court.
In an April 2009 meeting with Minister of Health Rudyard Spencer, who has portfolio responsibility for issues affecting children, Clarke informed him of the letter she sent to Lightbourne.
She also told the minister that the OCA had an interest in some of the cases.
"The minister requested a list of all those children and indicated that he was interested in having this done, but also noted that there were not enough coroners in the island.
"He further stated that he will make contact with the CEO of the CDA (Child Development Agency) and the attorney general to have the matter expedited," read a section of the minutes of the meeting held between the health minister and the children's advocate.
More than a year and two months after that meeting, Clarke told The Sunday Gleaner that her office is yet to receive word on the status of the above-stated cases that date back to May 2006.
"Remember the children who died at Glenhope (and) at SOS Children's Village ... we don't hear a thing, not a thing," she lamented.
In the Office of the Children's Advocate's 2007-2008 annual report, Clarke also recommended the implementation of: "A mechanism for impartial and independent review of sudden or accidental death of children in government institutions (hospitals, children's homes, etc) to enhance accountability and encourage systemic recommendations to improve quality of service for children."
The report also noted that terms of reference for such a mechanism were detailed and sent to the relevant ministry during that same year.
Betty Ann Blaine, convenor of Hear the Children's Cry, said the tardiness in determining cause of death and criminal liability tells a staggering story of neglect and abandonment on both the part of parents and the State.
She reasoned that in life and death, the children who have been institutionalised are starved of affection they deserve. "We don't care about our children. It must be obvious; not just the statistics on hand but when you put the whole picture together," Blaine said.
tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com
Published: Sunday | July 11, 2010 0 Comments and 0 Reactions
Clarke
Tyrone Reid, Sunday Gleaner Reporter
ALMOST 100 children died while in state care between 2005 and 2008 from varying causes including "pneumonia, drowning, head injuries, haemorrhage due to gunshot wounds, leptospirosis and stab wounds to the chest".
Statistics for 2009 and the first half of 2010 were not yet compiled.
Most of the deaths over the three-year period were due to natural causes, data provided by the Office of Children's Advocate (OCA) revealed, but Children's Advocate Mary Clarke is frustrated with "Government's tardiness in adequately caring for its wards.
In an interview with The Sunday Gleaner, she questioned whether anyone should be held criminally liable for the death of a child in the care of the State.
Dr Carolyn Gomes, a trained medical doctor and executive director of Jamaicans for Justice, was alarmed by many of the causes of death, which had a string of various strains of pneumonia figuring prominently on the list.
"In this day and age, children should not die of bronchopneumonia and dehydration. Those are treatable conditions.
"It would suggest that they were not taken for appropriate care in a timely fashion," Gomes explained as she pointed out that many of the illnesses listed as cause of death are not ailments that kill you immediately.
To compound the problem, several post-mortem and coroner's reports on the deaths of the children between 2005 and 2008 are still pending, and it has not yet been determined if anyone was criminally liable for the loss of life.
Official documents have revealed that of the approximately 89 deaths during the four-year period, at least six post-mortems were listed as pending.
While Clarke said she would leave that determination to trained medical professionals, she appealed for an injection of more trained personnel to attend to the needs of children with multiple disabilities.
"What I'm saying that I know categorically is that you don't have enough specialist staff to take care of children with disabilities," Clarke said.
"During the period January 2006 to the end of December 2007, 51 children died in these facilities. The majority died from natural causes and the others in sudden and/or accidental circumstances. Post-mortem reports are still pending for some of these children," noted Clarke in her 2007-2008 annual report to Parliament.
In a letter to Senator Dorothy Lightbourne, minister of justice and attorney general, dated December 10, 2008, Clarke highlighted the snail's pace at which coroner's inquests into the deaths of children being cared for by the State was moving.
"We wish to point out that of the 50 children who died in the childcare institutions in the past two years, coroner's inquest has only been held for one child thus far," read a section of the letter that opened with praise for the amendment to the Coroner's Act to deal with the backlog of cases in the Coroner's Court.
In an April 2009 meeting with Minister of Health Rudyard Spencer, who has portfolio responsibility for issues affecting children, Clarke informed him of the letter she sent to Lightbourne.
She also told the minister that the OCA had an interest in some of the cases.
"The minister requested a list of all those children and indicated that he was interested in having this done, but also noted that there were not enough coroners in the island.
"He further stated that he will make contact with the CEO of the CDA (Child Development Agency) and the attorney general to have the matter expedited," read a section of the minutes of the meeting held between the health minister and the children's advocate.
More than a year and two months after that meeting, Clarke told The Sunday Gleaner that her office is yet to receive word on the status of the above-stated cases that date back to May 2006.
"Remember the children who died at Glenhope (and) at SOS Children's Village ... we don't hear a thing, not a thing," she lamented.
In the Office of the Children's Advocate's 2007-2008 annual report, Clarke also recommended the implementation of: "A mechanism for impartial and independent review of sudden or accidental death of children in government institutions (hospitals, children's homes, etc) to enhance accountability and encourage systemic recommendations to improve quality of service for children."
The report also noted that terms of reference for such a mechanism were detailed and sent to the relevant ministry during that same year.
Betty Ann Blaine, convenor of Hear the Children's Cry, said the tardiness in determining cause of death and criminal liability tells a staggering story of neglect and abandonment on both the part of parents and the State.
She reasoned that in life and death, the children who have been institutionalised are starved of affection they deserve. "We don't care about our children. It must be obvious; not just the statistics on hand but when you put the whole picture together," Blaine said.
tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com
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