Ministry Team Tour DCFS Facilities
MP and Parliamentary Secretary (PS) for Social Development, Heather Bodden visited Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) properties on a fact-finding mission on Wednesday, 23 and the Sunrise Adult Training Centre on Friday, 25 June 2021.
Joined by members of the ministry’s senior management team, the group was accompanied by DCFS Director Paulinda Mendoza-Williams and Deputy Director Rayle Roberts.
The site visits, to meet facilities’ clients, staff, management and buildings, allowed Ms Bodden and the Ministry for Investment, Innovation and Social Development’s (MIISD) Chief Officer Eric Bush to get on-the-spot briefings and informal situation reports.
Golden Age Home in West Bay was the first facility visited. With eight staff and 22 adult its clients are presently ages 31 through 102 years old. One of the islands’ two adult care facilities, the home has been extended over the years. After meeting management, clients and community care worker staff in the facility’s recreation room, the group viewed the home’s commercial kitchen and visited bedbound residents. As well as seeing 102-year-old Ms. Ina Connor, the PS spoke with several residents whom she knew.
Invited to share their experiences and observations, DCFS staff and facilities managers at Golden Age Home (Elderly and Adults), Maple House (Adults), George Town; Older Persons Active Ageing Centre (OPAAC), George Town; Habbakuk House (Children), Northward said their jobs were challenging yet rewarding. Staffs’ commitment, Ms Bodden learned, is evident from their length of tenure as most of the community care workers she met had worked in DCFS care homes for well over a decade.
During her conversation with Ms Bodden and the Chief Officer, Golden Age Home, Community Care Worker 1 Judith Wilson-Turner said: “I look forward to working with you and working for the betterment of us all.”
Information gathered during the fact-finding mission will inform the management team’s strategic assessment of the department’s residential.
Committed to working creatively with DCFS to make all possible improvements for the most vulnerable in the community, the Chief Officer said: “The tours were very informative and gave us a deeper understanding of the dynamics of each facility and the system as a whole.”
