Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, the Hon. Dr. Horace Chang says case managers play a critical role in community transformation.
He noted that the 2024 Needs-Assessment for Case Management and Psychosocial Services Report, indicated that approximately ten thousand young people were identified to be in need of psychosocial support.
“Emotional stress and antisocial behaviour will lead the individual into violent and criminal behaviour, if left unaddressed. The Majority (not all) of these young Jamaicans are to be found in the volatile communities,” the Security Minister explained while delivering his Sectoral Presentation in Parliament today (May 14).
He further added: “We need to find these individuals when they are still young. This is why the family is so critical in the process.”
To combat this, “We, therefore, require a whole cohort of individuals with the necessary social work and psychosocial skillsets to help to divert these persons from a life of crime and dysfunctional behaviour”.
Currently, the Ministry of National Security has a capacity of 22 case managers in communities and schools in and around the Zones of Special Operations (ZOSOs). The Case Managers are engaged to conduct risk-to-violence assessments of individuals, develop treatment plans and direct individuals to various support services.
Minister Chang noted that Case Managers aim to bridge the gap between the needs of individuals and the availability of psychosocial services.
The Case Management officers are supported by sixty Community Liaison Aides who are trained to determine the social needs of households, using well-developed surveys.
“The model of the case managers and the CLAs working in unison extends attention beyond the individual and focuses on the entire family. We are looking to improve and expand this model and all other aspects of the programme as required, across the island,” Minister Chang explained.
He further noted that “it is important to recognize that the link between criminal violence and its contributing social factors has evolved.”
The Security Minister emphasised that while poverty helps to create the environment for criminal violence, it is no longer the main driving force.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Security has implemented several social intervention programmes which seek to curb crime and violence across the island.
Under the Ministry’s Citizen Security Plan (CSP), over eighty thousand (80,000) parents have been trained in parenting prgrammes and approximately forty thousand (40,000) at-risk youths trained or certified across the island through the HEART Trust NSTA.
In addition, approximately 200 students from schools and communities in ZOSO have been impacted under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and MNS Partnership for Violence Prevention in Targeted Vulnerable Communities and Schools in Jamaica (G2G).
The Ministry of National Security continues to implement targeted social intervention strategies to further train and empower community leaders in areas such as basic mediation and psychological first aid which are crucial elements of the CSP.
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