Children’s Authority calls for more foster parents

The Children’s Authority is appealing to the public to consider becoming a foster parent and make a difference in a child’s life. In a release, the Authority said it was continuing its efforts to recruit people who were willing to provide a loving home to a child through foster care. It also was expected that very soon staff of the Authority would have an opportunity to do the same.

Last November, Family Court Judge Betsy-Ann Lambert-Peterson granted a final Fit Person Order to director of the Authority Safiya Noel to care for a child who was brought to the attention of the Authority in 2015.

Noel made an application to be declared a fit guardian for a teenage boy originally committed to St Michael’s School for Boys until he turned 18.

The decision to move the child into Noel’s private residence in December 2016 without a court order was the subject of an investigation by the Ministry of Gender and Child Affairs in the Office of the Prime Minister.

Noel had offered her home as an option for the child’s placement, before making an application to the Family Court, in her private capacity, to become a fit person for the care of the child.

According to the Children’s Authority Act Chap. 46:10, a ‘Fit Person’ is defined as “a relative of a child or such other person, including a body corporate, authority, agency, or society established for the reception of children and young persons to whom the [the Children’s Authority] Act applies and who is found by the Court to be a suitable person to care for the child.”

In determining the matter, the Court took into account Noel’s suitability and capacity to meet the child’s welfare needs.