A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was yesterday signed by the General Secretariat of the Organisation of American States (OAS), the Trust for Americas, Health, Housing Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) Programme and the Heart Trust/NTA, through which youth released from the juvenile facilities will access vocational training, apprenticeship and employment opportunities.

The MoU was signed at the Opening Ceremony of a four-day workshop under the theme: “Post-Release Services to Jamaican Youth”. The workshop is aimed at training several agencies and stakeholders within the probation aftercare service, the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA), Ministries of Education and Health, HOPE, HEART Trust/NTA among others in post-release support.

The signing of the MoU is in keeping with the Department of Public Security of the DPS, OAS, and the Trust of the America project: ‘A New Path: Promoting a Healthy Environment and Productive Alternative for juvenile offenders in Jamaica.’

Since 2015, through the, ‘New Path’ programme, over 1900 youth have received intense training and financial assistance. The project targets our most vulnerable who have found themselves on the wrong side of the law.

The project seeks to improve the lives of at risk youth in conflict with the law. A priority of New Path initiative is to offer support, to address their emotional, social, educational and economic and social integration and development.

The initiative also supports key areas that can enable the successful economic and social integration following their reintegration upon release from the juvenile institutions.

The agreement is in tandem with the Ministry of National Security’s Five Pillar Crime Reduction Strategy — particularly the fifth pillar which speaks to Rehabilitation and Redemption — and is directly aligned with the Ministry’s mandate of creating a safer Jamaica.