The Tribune

By DANA SMITH dsmith@tribunemedia.net MORE than 600 cases of child abuse were reported to the department of Social Services last year, according to Social Development Minister Loretta Butler-Turner. The Long Island FNM candidate was speaking in the House yesterday, responding to questions from PLP Yamacraw incumbent, Melanie Griffin. Mrs Butler-Turner was asked by Mrs Griffin about regulations concerning the Child Protection Act. The Act, among other things, increased penalties for child abuse, made it mandatory to report all forms of abuse, and raised the age limit for the juvenile detention centres to 18 years from 16. "The regulations for the Child Protection Act 2007 have been drafted and are being vetted," Mrs Butler-Turner said. "While the framework has been established, the Children's Register nor the Child Abuse Registry are operating in the format identified by the Act. The Department of Social Services does however maintain a record of all reported cases of abuse." She said there has been 482 cases of abuse reported to the department between January and September 2011, with the total number for last year being 636, a 24 per cent increase from 2010's reported number of 483. "Action continues to be taken on educating the public on the provisions of the Child Protection Act, particularly during Child Protection Month and through regular speaking engagements to churches and civic organisations," Mrs Butler-Turner said. When asked about escapees from the Simpson Penn Centre for boys, Mrs Butler-Turner said that 14 boys managed to escape between June 1 and October 26, 2011. She said that trying to stop escapees is difficult. "The Simpson Penn Centre is not a facility where persons are physically confined on an almost 24-hour basis, hence the prevention of abscondments is literally impossible," she said. "In addition to the engagement of additional persons, the staff have been instructed to be more vigilant in the supervision of residents." The population increase at Simpson Penn, as a result of the Act, has called for two security officers to be hired last November, and the centre is currently "in the process of identifying additional persons for engagement." Mrs Butler-Turner said: "While there has been an increase in the number of residents since the coming into force of the Child Protection Act, there is a fluctuation in the number of residents on an almost weekly basis due to the status of the court cases." In response to a question concerning a girl who twice went missing from a facility in Grand Bahama in 2009, she stated there are "established procedures" for the search and recovery of children who go missing "in the care of the minister." These procedures include immediately notifying police, forwarding reports to the permanent secretary of the department to alert the minister, contacting the relatives of the child, and the department's own investigations to locate and recovery of the missing child. Mrs Butler-Turner pointed out the girl, in question, is of legal age since 2010 and contact was made with the girl's father. She also noted, yesterday, that provisions have been made in the 2011-2012 budget to increase additional staff and the Department of Public Service is currently processing 10 applications for social workers. Social workers deal with anywhere between 30 to 600 cases, though it depends on location, area and type of requested service, Mrs Butler-Turner said.