The Reporter 1 Volume 3 Issue 1 July 2014

OCR to launch new project: “Pon de Corna Reasoning”

The Reporter Your Source for Child Abuse and Missing Children Data

Volume 3 Issue 1 July 2014

OCR Vision (New)

The Office of the Children’s Registry will be among the

premier organizations worldwide performing in

Jamaica, a valuable, proactive role as part of a team

that is creating workable solutions to prevent, reduce

and/or eliminate the incidence of child abuse and

missing children. In so doing, we strive to be trusted and

respected by the children and adult populations of

Jamaica as a sensitive, professional, confidential and

effective organization that is providing world class service

in the creation of a safe and secure environment for

children to grow and reach their full potential. Building

on our success in Jamaica, we will act as a catalyst for

the establishment of other Children’s Registries in the

Caribbean.

OCR Mission (New)

The Office of the Children’s Registry (OCR) provides

a professional and confidential system to encourage,

receive, record, assess and refer for timely investigation

and curative action, reports of known or suspected

instances of child abuse and other threats to

children. The OCR also manages an effective national

alert and response system for the safe return of missing

children in the shortest possible time. We place great

emphasis on the promotion of measures to prevent,

reduce and/or eliminate the phenomena of child abuse

and missing children.

In this issue:

Pon de Corna Reasoning Project P. 1 Highlights - OCR Activities P. 2 Statistical Highlights P. 3 Get the Facts P. 3-4 Parenting Tips P. 5-6 Useful Contact Info & Fun Corner P. 6 Fun Corner

The Office of the Children’s Registry

(OCR) will embark on a new project

dubbed, “pon de corna reasoning” in the

summer of 2014. This project will see

the OCR team and other stakeholders

going into communities selected based

on statistics recorded from these areas

to raise awareness about negative issues

affecting children and encourage

reporting.

The three major objectives of this

initiative will be to:

Increase awareness about

negative circumstances

affecting children

Encourage the reporting of

these issues and nullify myths

associated with the reporting

process

Provide exposure to services

available to families for

assistance with child care and

protection

“The OCR team will go into communities,

identified from data we collect, to have

street corner reasoning sessions with our

parents, with a view to change the way we

treat our children during the summer and

in preparation for the new school year and

onward,” said Children’s Registrar, Greig

Smith.

He explained that the ‘Pon de Corna

Reasoning’ project came out of the

Ministry of Youth and Culture’s ‘Reset De

Ting’ project which was launched in

November 2013.

“I truly believe that once we work together

and are devoted to the task at hand, we

will see the kind of transformation that is

required in Jamaica for the safety of our

children,” Mr. Smith added.

“ I truly believe that

once we work together

and are devoted to the

task at hand, we will

see the kind of

transformation that is

required in Jamaica for

the safety of our

children,” Children’s

Registrar, Greig Smith

The Reporter 2 Volume 3 Issue 1 July 2014

OCR Highlights (cont’d)

Public Education

The OCR conducted over 200 presentations, participated in over 40 expos and over 60 media interviews and held over 30 consultations with various groups over the period. These included consultations with the staff and children in Residential Child Care Facilities, teaching professionals, health care workers among others. More consultations are scheduled with other groups. We distributed over 37 000 copies of various public educational materials, impacting over 25 000 persons in sections of all parishes across the island.

Child Protection Specialist at UNICEF, Janet Cupidon Quallo observes as students at Norwich Primary in Portland participate in OCR school tour

The OCR will continue to work closely with various stakeholders to raise awareness about child abuse and missing children and the importance of reporting the negative circumstances that affect children immediately so that the necessary intervention can be done to reduce the risk of further harm being done to them.

OCR’s Public Relations Officer, Julia Smiley

Green quizzes student during OCR school tour

at Annotto Bay High in St. Mary

Highlights of OCR Activities May 2013 – June 2014

The Office of the Children’s Registry (OCR) has selected nine children who will

serve as OCR Child Ambassadors and aid in its child abuse and missing children

public education campaign. The Child Ambassadors were appointed by the

Minister of Youth and Culture, the Honourable Lisa Hanna, MP, on Tuesday, June

10, 2014 at the Spanish Court Hotel, St. Andrew.

The nine Child Ambassadors were selected from a group of applicants for the Child

Ambassadors Programme, which was launched in May 2012. They will serve

primarily in the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Thomas, St. Mary,

Trelawny, St. James, Westmoreland, Manchester, St. Catherine and Clarendon.

All nine Child Ambassadors will volunteer with the OCR for a period of two years

and help to promote the reporting of child abuse and missing children.

Nine New OCR Child Ambassadors Appointed

The Office of the Children’s Registry (OCR) and the Jamaica Library Service (JLS) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding, (MOU) that will establish cooperation and share information on the reporting and recovery of children who become subjects of reports through the Ananda Alert System.

OCR signs MOU with Jamaica Library Service

Front Row, L-R: Greig Smith, Registrar-OCR, Honourable Lisa Hanna, MP, Minister of Youth and Culture and Karen Barton, Acting Director General-JLS sign MOU as stakeholders, Back Row: L-R: Mark Connolly, UNICEF Jamaica Representative, Dr. Patrece Charles Freeman, Executive Director, NPSC and Rosa-Lee Gage Grey, Executive Director-CDA observe. The MOU will allow for the placement of necessary equipment within libraries operated by the Jamaica Library Service. Donated by UNICEF, the equipment will be placed in prescribed Parish Libraries to allow for the printing and dissemination of Ananda Alerts. After the broadcasting of an alert, specialized staff members will perform critical functions decisively; disseminating and displaying OCR information in all schools within their authority along with mobile and parish libraries.

Back row, L-R:

Elon Parkinson

(Corporate

Communications

Manager-LIME),

Hon. Lisa Hanna

(Minister of Youth

& Culture), Greig

Smith (Registrar-

OCR)

Middle and front

rows: 2014-2016

OCR Child

Ambassadors

The Reporter 3 Volume 3 Issue 1 July 2014

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

Number of reports Number of children

6485

5406

8527

6768

Total number of reports received by the OCR, and total number of children reported, January to September 2012 &

2013

Jan. - Sep. 2012 Jan. - Sep. 2013

Get the Facts

How to make an Ananda Alert

report

Call 119 or the nearest Police station or send

an email to anandaalert@ocr.gov.jm or call

1-888-PROTECT.

What happens when the OCR

receives an Ananda Alert Report?

Reports of a missing child

received directly from a

prescribed person/ parent/

guardian are documented and

referred to the JCF’s Missing

Person Monitoring Unit (MPMU)

within 30 minutes for

investigation.

Reports of a missing child

received from the JCF’s Missing

Person Monitoring Unit and/ or

Corporate Communications Unit

(CCU) are disseminated to all

stakeholders within 30 minutes

NOTE: All reports received from the

CCU and MPMU between 5:00pm

between Monday – Thursday and

4:00pm on Fridays are addressed on

the next business day.

Statistical Highlights– Child Abuse Reports

Fact:

Between 5-6 children go missing in Jamaica every day…some of

them never return

The Reporter 4 Volume 3 Issue 1 July 2014

What is Child Trafficking?

Child Trafficking – “is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child by means of threat or use of force, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power …”

Purpose and Causes of Trafficking

Children are trafficked for:

Prostituting

Becoming domestic servants

Being used as street venders or used for other forms of exploitation

Effects of Child Trafficking

Child may be seen frequently on the streets begging, selling, working, etc.

Child may be missing from school, home, etc

Child may not get to live out their childhood, ‘forced’ into adulthood

Attachment difficulties Mistrust of Adults Difficulties relating to

others

Child may be abandoned by parent

Child may have unattended medical needs

Child may not be supervised

Child may be mostly hungry, improperly dressed, has poor hygiene

Child may be pale, lacks energy, begs or steals food, frequently absent from school

Child Neglect & its Effects on Children

What is Neglect?

Neglect - any serious disregard for a child's supervision, care, or discipline.

Get the Facts….Child Trafficking & Neglect

PICTURE

The Reporter 5 Volume 3 Issue 1 July 2014

Child’s Age Behavioural Pattern Parent’s Response

12-17 Years Old

Sudden mood changes and more conflicts with parents.

Educate yourself about the various changes

affecting the child so both of you can cope

better as they happen

Increased attention to personal

appearance.

Ask questions and talk about changes in the

body that the child may be experiencing. Seek

help from a medical practitioner if necessary-

the longer you wait to have these discussions,

the more likely it will be for your child to form

misconceptions.

Temporary alterations to their

appearance e.g. alterations to hair,

wearing make-up etc.

Pick your battles. Teens may want to shock

their parents and it’s a lot better for them to do

something temporary. Reserve objections for

things that are more dangerous and permanent

for example drugs/alcohols and permanent

changes to their bodies. Be careful however, to

discuss the reasons for the changes and the

perceptions these changes will cause.

Experimentation (may involve risky

behaviours)

Communicate with your child-don’t avoid

topics such as sex, drugs and peer pressure.

Talking about these topics with your children

before they are exposed will increase the

chances of them acting responsibly when the

time comes.

Greater need for privacy Respect your child’s right to privacy. Let your

child know that you trust him or her but set

boundaries and remain alert and ready to act if

there is any sign of trouble.

More concern about what friends think

of him or her and always wanting to

connect with friends via phone, internet

etc.

Monitor what your child consumes from the

internet, the media and other forms of

technology. Limit access to technology after a

certain time eg. At bedtime. It is not

unreasonable to limit access to phone, internet

etc. after certain hours

Parenting Tips: Understanding Your Child’s Behaviour Did you know that children go through different developmental stages? If you are a parent, it helps when you know what to

expect at each stage and how to respond appropriately. In the previous issue, we looked at the expected behavioral

patterns of children aged between 6-11 years old. In this issue, we will share with you the expected behavioral patterns of

those in the pre-teen and teenage years and parenting tips for each.

A

2013 OCR Child Ambassadors, L-R:

Tasheka Nevers, Saran Wilson

2013 OCR Child Ambassadors, L-R:

Tasheka Nevers, Moesha Allen, Robyn

Boyd and Saran Wilson

The Reporter 6 Volume 3 Issue 1 July 2014

WORD SCRAMBLE

H L R N C I E D

R G T I H

L I H C D

U A S L E X

A E I O U B H R V

I S C E U T R I N Y

N E L E C S D A O T

D U L T A

See if you can unscramble these sentences!

1. Unscramble the theme for OCR’s 7th Anniversary.

“PROTECT BE SPEAK OUR CHANGE; OUT; CHILDREN THE”

2. Unscramble the OCR Tag Line.

“NEGLECT NOT AND PROTECT AND HARM CARE”

3. Unscramble the plea of a Child to an Abuser.

“CHILD; US OUR HELP AM A I INNOCENCE PROTECT TO

A boy and a girl twin 3 years old, Paris and Jordan

were asked at school by their teacher with whom do they live.

Teacher: Who do you live with Jordan?

Jordan: I live with grandmother, father and mother.

Teacher: Who do you live with Paris?

Paris: I live with my grandmother and my parents live at work

For more information about the OCR, visit:

www.ocr.gov.jm

Children’s Registry OCRJA

FUN CORNER

See if you can

unscramble the

words in the left

column!

© OCR 2014

Useful Contact Info

Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (C.I.S.O.C.A.) 3 Ruthven Road, Kingston 10 Tel: 926-4079 or 926-7318

Child Development Agency 48 Duke Street, Kingston Tel: 948-2841-2 or 948-7067

Child Guidance Clinic Psychiatric Department University Hospital of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7 Tel: 927-2492

Family Court

79 Duke Street, Kingston

Tel: 922-0001 or 922-4821

Office of the Children’s Advocate

72 Harbour Street, Kingston

Tel: 967-5890 or 967-3325

Office of the Children’s Registry

12 Carlton Crescent, Kingston 10

(Head Office)

- For reports call 1-888-PROTECT

(776-8328)/ 908-2132

- For other matters call 908-1690

National Parenting Support Commission Caenwood Complex, 37 Arnold Road, Kingston 4 Tel: 967-7977

Victim Support Unit

47e Old Hope Road, Kingston 5

Tel: 946-0663 or 946-9287 or

978-8071

OCR E-ZINE TEAM

Julia Smiley Green

Frankseco Yorke

Andrae Dixon

Natalie Thompson

Barbara Gardner

Cassetta Green