Windsor Child Care Facility

The Windsor Child Care Facility, established in 1977, is located two kilometers from the eastern side of St. Ann's Bay, St. Ann. The facility is operated by the Government of Jamaica and has the capacity to house 60 females, ages 12 to 18 years.

The current population at Windsor Child Care Facility is thirty-three (33):

• Nineteen (19) residents attend public school
  
• Fourteen (14) residents attend school on site:
  
  • Seven (7) receive remedial classes in preparation for re-entry into public schools
    
  • Seven (7) girls await placement in public schools for September 2009

Advances:

• Social worker employed to the facility.
• New classroom block and dormitory built.
• Hard court to facilitate three sporting activities (netball, volleyball and tennis) built.
• Range of residential programmes in place to address the physical, spiritual and mental health of the children, along with their educational needs.

Challenges:

• Windsor Child Care Facility is surrounded by a squatter community and the existing perimeter fence is constantly being breached by young men in the community. Conclusions from security consultants are that while the existing the chain link fence is inadequate, a high boundary wall (concrete) would not be appropriate for this type of facility. Instead, the CDA has been advised to pursue electronic surveillance as the best option.
  
  
• The administrative block is in a dilapidated state and poses a threat to the safety of employees and clients.
  
  
• The road leading to the facility is in a deplorable state.

Actions:
The Child Development Agency is working with the Member of Parliament and the relevant authorities and agencies to address the above stated areas.

• The CDA continues to employ community outreach, as a means of engaging citizens and is working very closely with the police to ensure the safety and security of the children.
  
  
• Security guards are employed to the facility
  
  
• Meanwhile, the Ministry of Housing continues its efforts to regularize the squatter community.
  
  
• The project to rehabilitate the administrative block will cost an estimated $J6M. This, however, has not been provided for in Capital A. Therefore, funding is being sought externally.
  
  
• The CDA is now seeking to identify funding for the construction of a perimeter fence, which is estimated to cost over J$9M.
  
  
• Electronic surveillance is being explored as a possible security measure for the facility. This comes at a cost of approximately J$3M.

Immediate wishes of Windsor Child Care Facility include:

• To expand and improve our capacity for training in the three skills areas currently being offered - food preparation, garment construction and cosmetology.
  
  
• To establish a modern and adequately equipped computer room.
  
  
• To acquire a bus for transporting the children.