Caribbean News

JAMAICA: CSJP provides Substance Misuse Treatment for youngsters

Published

6 years ago

November 3, 2017

#Jamaica, November 3, 2017 – Kingston – The Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) III has successfully implemented the first phase of a Specialized Substance Misuse Treatment programme aimed at providing youngsters with the necessary support to ensure that they can benefit from the entity’s range of educational and employment opportunities.

The programme is being undertaken through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA). It was formed out of a realisation that drug use, particularly abuse of marijuana, has prevented a number of CSJP recipients from accessing vocational skills training and employment offerings, the latter of which includes internships and on-the-job training and placement.

Addressing a JIS Think Tank on Tuesday (October 31), Communications/Social Media Coordinator, CSJP, Patrice Nephew, said the initiative is part of an improvement in the psychosocial services provided by the agency. She noted that while the CSJP seeks to provide youngsters with opportunities, it is acknowledged that until certain issues of substance misuse are treated, their likelihood to gain and maintain viable employment will be very limited.

“This is a preliminary exercise before they go into some of the training sessions, because we have realised that, in the past, the compliance rate with some of the training programmes has been low because of substance abuse issues. So it is a more deliberate attempt to get them in a state of readiness,” Ms. Nephew said.

More than 150 individuals were referred to the NCDA for treatment following risk assessment through the CSJP’s Case Management programme and having been flagged for substance abuse. The NCDA conducted 541 individual sessions and 80 group sessions over a 12-month period starting July 2016. Additional workshops were done in communities and schools to sensitive children and students about marijuana use and to train community volunteers to identify persons in need of treatment.

Sixty-one per cent of the participants were compliant with the sessions and 10.1 per cent tested negative after completion of the treatment programme. NCDA Substance Abuse Officer, Western Region, Suzanne Brown, explained that even though some of the clients may not be negative at the end of the programme, they would have made significant progress.

“What you will find is that a lot of the times, some are chain-smokers, and throughout the programme, you will notice significant reduction in usage,” she told JIS News.

“Persons probably started with back-to-back smoking, and as the session progressed… you will notice that while they have not totally stopped using, they have been able to reduce the number of (marijuana cigarettes) per day,” she added.

Substance Abuse Officer with NCDA, Kingston and St. Andrew, Denise Chin, hailed the programme as being a strong and important initiative.

“It offered a very structured way for participants to receive help and access to treatment facilities and options that they wouldn’t otherwise reach,” she said.

Mrs. Chin said the resource personnel and psychological services offered by the CSJP are critical.

Release: JIS

Caribbean News

STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS EXPECTED TO ASSIST GOV’T PLANNING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

Published

2 days ago

April 30, 2024

Shanieka

KINGSTON, April 29 (JIS):

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says the outcome of discussions arising from the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) will assist in guiding the Government’s planning for climate change.

This, he points out, is important for climate mitigation as well as building Jamaica’s resilience.

“We look forward to the discussions that will, no doubt, take place. We look forward to the basis of planning for the Government to streamline its investments to ensure you have the tools that you need to better advise us, that the WRA (Water Resources Authority) has the tools to digitise its monitoring network, and that all of the agencies that touch our planning mechanisms have the tools. But we need to know what we are facing, and we’re guided by your expertise,” Minister Samuda said.

He was addressing the opening ceremony for the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston on Monday (April 29).

Senator Samuda said given the fact that the climate has changed and continues to do so, investments in and collaborations on building Jamaica’s predictive and scientific capacity must be prioritised.

“Ultimately, we need to be able to assess our current climatic realities if we are to better plan, if we’re to insist and ensure that our infrastructure meets the needs that we need it to. I’m very happy that this event is happening… because this is a critical issue.

“Jamaica, last year, faced its worst and most severe drought… and this year, we’re already seeing the impacts of not quite as severe a drought but, certainly, a drought with severe impacts, especially in the western part of the country,” he said.

Principal Director, Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, explained that the forum aims to, among other things, establish a collaboration platform for climate services providers and users to understand risks and opportunities of past, present and future climate developments, as well as improve inter-agency coordination of policies, plans and programmes.

Among the other presenters were Ambassador, European Union to Jamaica, Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen; Chief Scientist/Climatologist, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Adrian Trotman; and Head, Regional Climate Prediction Services, World Meteorological Organization, Wilfran Moufouma-Okia.

The Meteorological Service of Jamaica hosted the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) in partnership with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and the World Meteorological Organization.

The National Stakeholder Consultation is a governance mechanism that guides how different sectors or actors work together to create products that contribute to adaptation and resilience-building. It seeks to create a road map for the development and implementation of climate services to inform decision-making.

NCF-1 aims to bridge the gap between climate providers and users. It increases the use of science-based information in decision-making and operations with the aim of generating and delivering co-produced and co-designed products and services.

CONTACT: CHRIS PATTERSON

Caribbean News

Haiti- ECHO humanitarian efforts

Published

3 days ago

April 29, 2024

Shanieka

Rashaed Esson

Staff writer

#Haiti#Crisis#HumanitarianEfforts#ECHO, April 23rd, 2024 – Due to the worsening Humanitarian crisis in Haiti with an increase in death toll and injured people, The European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), launched an emergency airlift of 5 flights carrying essentials which include up to 62 tons of medicine as well as emergency shelter equipment, and water and sanitation items. These were brought to Cap Haitien according to a report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), on April 19, as the international Airport in Port au prince remains closed following the gang attack last month.

Caribbean News

Dominica repeals laws criminalizing gay sex

Published

3 days ago

April 29, 2024

Shanieka

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

#Dominica#LGBTQIA, April 24, 2034- Dominica has decided to remove colonial era laws that criminalized gay sex, joining Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda.

This comes almost five years after a man of the queer community, whose identity was withheld for his safety, spoke out against Dominica’s laws in 2019, saying they violated his rights.