Police and Prison Officers to participate in workshops geared at addressing Juvenile Justice Reform

​Police and Prison Officers will over the next few days participate in three separate training workshops which will address juvenile justice reform and proposals contained in the Draft OECS Child Justice Bill which is presently receiving the attention of Government for enactment.
According to a release, Sensitization Sessions will also be held for Gazetted Officers of the Dominica Police Force, Managers of the Dominica Prison Service and staff of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution to include officers assigned to the National Prosecutions Service.
The first three day workshop commences on Monday August 21st, 2017 at the Police Training School in Morne Bruce and will be facilitated by Magistrate Gloria Augustus, now Technical Specialist under the OECS/ USAID Juvenile Justice Reform Project and Mr.  Leonard Terrance, Deputy Director of Bordelaise Correctional Facility in St. Lucia.
The overall objectives of the Workshops and sensitization sessions are to explore issues relevant to juvenile justice reform in order to upgrade skills and competencies of participants for better execution of duties particularly to children. Participants are also expected to examine the various proposed Clauses of the Child Justice Bill, how they relate to the duties to be undertaken by practitioners assigned to various institutions working with juveniles and methods of enforcement of the law when enacted.
 
Presentations are also expected to be made on a wide variety of subject areas to include Child and Youth Development, risk and protective factors, International Instruments Relevant to Juvenile Justice Administration, Diversion of Juveniles and the OECS Family Model Bills with emphasis on the Child Justice Bill.
The training Workshops and sensitization sessions, the first in four similar exercises to be conducted in other OECS states, are sponsored under the OECS/ USAID Juvenile Justice Reform Project.
It is being convened in partnership with the Ministry of Social Services, Family and Gender Affairs and the Ministry of Justice, Immigration and National Security.