Mr Aggrey Azore.Officer

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“Some parents just don’t care if their children are alive or dead,” said Senior Probation and Social ServicesSenior Probation and Social Services Officer, Mr Aggrey Azore.Officer, Aggrey Azore, when he addressed an accreditation forum spearheaded by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) recently.With a focus on supporting the delivery of health and social services in the quest for accreditation, the forum saw Azore giving attention to what he described as a “phenomenon that is destroying the family.”“Many of our women have gone to the interior; they say they go there to cook. And others have migrated – they have gone to Trinidad, they have gone to Barbados, they have gone all over the place. They are not going to the USA so much now, but when they go, they leave many of these children unattended,” Azore informed.He said that there are resulting situations that often force the Child Care and Protection Agency and the Probation Department of the Ministry of Social Protection into urgent action. Because of neglect, Azore said that there are times that concerned neighbours end up taking up the responsibility of some children’s wellbeing.“They have to decide who (neighbour) is going to give them food, who is going to take care of their other needs and this is where they (children) are at risk…they are left there (sometimes) at the mercy of human vultures and predators who take advantage of them,” said the Probation Officer.Countering this situation is to take the affected children into the care and custody of the Child Care and Protection Agency. Some are either placed into Foster Homes or they are taken to the Mahaica Children’s Home, the Drop In Centre or the Sophia Care Centre, said Azore with giving specific details of the number of children currently affected in this way.But before thrusting the children into a Home, Azore disclosed that attempts are first made to link such children with a family member who is willing to care for them.  “Obviously those children come with problems and as such, we have to work along with the care providers to ensure that their wellbeing and safety is enhanced and they are not further violated,” he added.Whether they are placed in a home or with relatives, the Probation Officer conveyed that the role of the Ministry is to continuously visit and monitor the progress of children. And according to him, there are some who do very well in such environments.But an interesting development that has been observed, he said, is that there are occasions when disinterested parents return months or even years later to claim their children.“We are not there to break up families but they have to prove that they are willing, ready and capable of providing the kind of care for those children,” explained Azore.Another issue that sometimes surface too, he disclosed, is when there are problems between the parents of children and they (children) are used as the bargaining chip. This daunting state of affairs can reach even more worrying proportions when children are abused sometimes by parents or stepparents, Azore added, even as he outline the forms of abuse the Ministry is tasked with dealing ranging from neglect and deprivation to sexual, physical and psychological. Neglect and deprivation is the common form of abuse that is most often detected by neighbours who sometimes bring these to the attention of the relevant authorities.Commenting on the importance of Homes where children from troubled families are sometimes placed, the Probation Officer said that with accreditation of such institutions, it is expected that the wellbeing of children will be safeguarded.With accreditation (from the Ministry) he noted that these institutions must reach a certain standard that ensures that children are not subjected to continued abuse as they would have suffered at their homes.“They (institutions) know that they are going to be monitored, they know that they are going to be assessed and evaluated and the necessary action will be taken to prosecute when necessary,” said Azore.