Pregnant in State care

BEFORE her sister died she expressed one wish for her daughter — that she would not become a teen mother. Her loving sibling says she tried desperately to honour that wish, eventually placing her niece in State care when she became increasingly difficult to manage at home, only to later learn that the 16-year-old had become pregnant while at Maxfield Park Children’s Home. Heartbroken, she now feels as though she has failed both her sister and her niece. However, she said her pain has been compounded by her anger over not being provided with timely updates on matters related to her now-pregnant niece. According to her, she was told that the teen had “consensual sex” with another ward of the State while residing at the Corporate Area children’s home. However, the teen was already about six weeks pregnant when her aunt was told of the pregnancy in July. The aunt told the Jamaica Observer that a few days before she was formally notified by a representative, her niece had sent her a message saying that she had something to tell her, but never revealed what that was. She suspects that the teen may have intended to tell her that she was pregnant, which has led her to question whether staff at the facility were aware of the pregnancy but failed to immediately inform her. Shortly after learning about her niece’s pregnancy, the aunt said she went to the children’s home hoping to see the 16-year-old, only to be told that the teenager had been transferred to another facility. While she admitted to previously being informed that a transfer was pending since Maxfield Park was not equipped for pregnant teens, she said she was not told when it would be actioned or the new location to which the teen would be moved. On a separate occasion, she learned that her niece had been arrested for allegedly assaulting an individual at a children’s home in Montego Bay, St James. However, this news did not come from the teenager’s caseworker, but from the police who called to make contact with the family. In fact, the aunt said much of what she knows about her niece’s whereabouts and well-being has come through the grapevine from friends and contacts within various agencies, who have tried to help her piece together what has been happening with the child in State care. The aunt said the experience has been both heartbreaking and infuriating. She described the lack of communication from the teen’s caseworker and various children’s homes as unacceptable. “I am so angry. I don’t even know how to explain this feeling, but I am hurt about it. I am torn up about it,” she told the Sunday Observer. She said that following her sister’s death in 2023 she became the guardian of all four of her children. She said her niece was very problematic and bounced around from one family member to the next. She said the teenager was eventually placed in State care in Falmouth, Trelawny, but when the facility was damaged during the passage of Hurricane Melissa, she returned home. However, her behaviour did not improve. She said her niece continued to rebel, eventually engaging in self-harm. The family then decided to put her back in State care, where her aunt said she believed the teen would be surrounded by qualified professionals who would ensure her care and safety. Instead, the teenager got pregnant and was allegedly subjected to abuse. CRAWFORD…for her to go into State care for care and protection and nurturing and then for her, within eight months, to have had a report that she is currently pregnant while being a ward of the State, it is difficult to understand the sequence of events (Photo: Naphtali Junior) The teen’s uncle said he was informed by the pregnant teen that she was locked outside of a home at which she was residing in Montego Bay, with no food, water, or shelter. He alleged that his niece also faced verbal abuse and neglect at the childcare facility. “It’s wrong,” he said, repeating the phrase three times for emphasis. “It’s an abuse of power. It’s abusing the child; it’s abusing the family. We want legal action taken against the various institutions that are responsible, and for there to be some [restitution] for her, because she does not have the capacity to take care of a child. The State has not done its duty so, therefore, the State has to take responsibility for that,” he insisted. A returning resident, the uncle said it is depressing to see what Jamaica has become. “We don’t understand the trauma that a person who lives abroad has to go through. To come back to Jamaica and see the same stupidness going on between our own people when we should know better that it is wrong. We should know better,” he said, demanding accountability. Meanwhile, the aunt is heartbroken that she did not get to keep the promise she made to her sister. “Me feel like me fail. When I told them to take her back, that was the main reason why I gave her back because I never wanted her to be a teen mom. I wanted her to have an education and get something out of life. Being a mother at this age wasn’t for her. Mi never want that. Mi feel like me fail my sister. Every day me feel like me a fail. I keep saying, ‘Where am I going wrong?’,” said the distraught aunt. “There are nights when I lie down in my bed, and I cry uncontrollably because I can’t cry in front of the kids…me have to try and make these kids not see that aunty a break. Mi tired,” she said, her voice heavy. She said the latest information she’s received is that her niece is at a correctional facility in Kingston, where she is being held in relation to the alleged assault. She said she’s sent a letter to the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) demanding answers as to why she was not kept in the loop regarding her niece’s care, but has yet to receive a response. She hopes the matter shines light on the realities of how children are treated in State care to bring about change. The aunt is heartbroken that she was unable to fulfil her late sister’s wish for her daughter not to become a teen mom, as her niece is now pregnant. “Them nah watch them, and they are not doing them job. They are negligent,” she said. “I want people to know what is going on in State care. I want them to know that these are the people that we have looking after our kids because we can’t look after them. It cannot continue,” she told the Sunday Observer. Executive director and co-founder of Eve for Life Joy Crawford said the situation is extremely difficult to understand. A non-government organisation that focuses on the sexual and reproductive health, rights and well-being of the Jamaican girl child, the head said the teen has received support from the organisation. According to Crawford, the teen has a history of abuse and self-harm and had been placed in the facility to ensure her safety and care. “For her to go into State care for care and protection and nurturing and then for her, within eight months, to have had a report that she is currently pregnant while being a ward of the State, it is difficult to understand the sequence of events and the things that the State had in place to ensure her safety and protection. “What is as problematic is that, based on the interaction and the support that we have been lending to her aunt, who is her current legal guardian, is the missing alarm, the missing accountability, the missing engagement from the State actors and their responsibility to the family and to this young girl. They need to actually answer key questions and say what is going to be in place for this young woman and her child that is coming, as well as what is the restitution for her being harmed, abused, neglected, and becoming pregnant while in State care,” said Crawford. The ward of the State was already six weeks pregnant when her family was notified about her pregnancy while in the care of the Child Protection and Family Services Agency. She insisted that there are some serious questions to be answered. “I am aware that the aunt had sent a letter to the CPFSA for which, to my knowledge, she has still not yet gotten a response. That, for me, now is tantamount to being the worst part of this story, because we have a duty, as Jamaica, to answer this family about what has happened to their relative while in State care,” she told the Sunday Observer. The director said the non-government institution is concerned about how privately run homes care for wards of the State and the interventions that are taken when they are harmed. “While we understand that Eve for Life is not a legal guardian, or we don’t have legal jurisdiction over the families that we work with and the children…we are legitimate child protection partners in Jamaica, playing a role for a group of young people who are vulnerable. We are the sole representative of them in the education system, in the childcare protection system, and in their communities, and I think from that perspective we have a duty to be very invested in what happens to them,” said Crawford. She advocated for swift intervention, adding that the family deserves answers. “The family should be in the know and should be brought to the table. There should be some State acknowledgement that there has been grievous harm done to this young woman while under the watch of the Government,” she stressed.