Crime Prevention and Community Safety Branch working in schools to stem violence

 

The Crime Prevention & Community Safety Branch within the Ministry of National Security is working in schools to stem anti-social behaviour.

 

National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang says the department plays a critical role in the national security apparatus.

 

He says, already, Kingston Technical High is benefitting from its intervention, with students getting psychosocial services through the help of a guidance counsellor. 

 

"I understand it's going very well," said the minister, praising the "very caring and effective" case managers who work with different institutions. 

 

Dr. Chang noted that case management involves a systematic and collaborative approach involving case managers, guidance counsellors, teachers and other stakeholders to identify and address challenges with individual students.

 

The National Security Minister emphasised the need to respond to dysfunction from a familial level. 

 

"[If] we find a child who is having challenges, it is important to find out if the mother is working or not working. Is there another child at home challenged or there is one that is going into a gang? That way we can begin to resolve the issue in a permanent and sustainable way. So the case management role is to create linkages between the various groupings.

 

"As we approach this, we become more deliberate in intervening early and providing the kind of support that is required to deal with the underlying challenges that all emerge from some level of poverty, family dysfunction, substance abuse and other challenges," said Dr. Chang.