Work to start on young offenders unit

| 14/01/2017 | 22 Comments

(CNS): The government has said that it is staring work on a long-awaited facility to house young offenders that have been jailed by the courts, which will finally see juveniles separated from adult prisoners. The Cayman government has been breaching its own Constitution for several years because the only facility it had to securely house high-risk children under court orders was at Eagle House at HMPs Northward and Fairbanks. But plans to develop a secure building for young people serving custodial sentences at Bonaventure will bring government in compliance with the Bill of Rights and give youngsters in trouble with the law a better chance at rehabilitation.

Minister for Community Affairs, Youth and Sports Osbourne Bodden said his ministry had started the project using cash from the 2016/17 budget.

“This project is critical,” he said. “The ability to adequately address the needs of this population is a great milestone for the Cayman Islands Government in its continued efforts to strengthen the continuum of care for children.”

The proposed facility will accommodate ten to twelve children, between the ages of 13 to 18 years old, who have been placed on youth rehabilitation orders (YRO’s) or on remand by the court, officials stated in a release Friday.

The number of rooms for girls and boys is based on the numbers of children who are being committed to the prison system over the course of a given year.

The new secure building will be located at the existing Bonaventure Boys Home site in West Bay, which currently provides therapeutic treatment for boys on YRO’s, but due to the security limitations it can only accommodate moderate to medium-risk boys. Officials explained that once the new secure building is appropriately staffed and fully operational, it will accommodate higher risk youth on remand or given custodial sentences.

This will ensure that youth prisoners can be treated appropriately for their age and remain separate from adult prisoners. Officials from the CAYS Foundation, which will run unit, said they will be able to extend their approach of positive youth reinforcement and offer high-risk youth hope and the incentive to improve and change their behaviour. At the same time the service will provide for their social and educational needs.

Government has not yet revealed the cost of the project and details of the tendering process. CNS has submitted a request for that information and is awaiting a response.

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Category: Crime, Prison

Comments (22)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Not big enough. 10-12 people. Really!? And what the H is an 18 year old doing there??? That’s an adult by the rest of the worlds standards. It’s also the drinking age here, so…

  2. Sharkey says:

    I wonder how people can continue to re-elect politicians that don’t do anything for 3 1/2 years , and start talking about doing something the last 6 months of their term.
    This is called starting the campaign , don’t be fooled people.
    Do what President Elect Trump said if you see it’s necessary “drain the swamp “.

  3. Anonymous says:

    They just got the country’s finances in order and can now act without putting us back in debt. Why does it always have to be political? This is very much needed. Thanks Ozzie and PPM.

  4. ha says:

    How I Imagine that meeting went

    Alden: Ossie …Ossie….OSSIE!!!!

    Ossie: zzzzz huh wa ?

    Alden: 4 months till election …you got anything to report?

    Ossie: Well…oh wait …lets make a few announcements and tell the people I need to be around to get them completed another 4 years. Remember I want 1 more term then I am retiring.

    Alden: Suppose the people dont want you around 4 more years ?

    Ossie (slowly places cow cod on the table)

    Alden: Gulp, Ok …next …Wayne ? Wayne? WAYNE!!!!

  5. Wow says:

    Another soon come, is this all Ossie has done for 4 years ? Boxing gym ground breaking, beach bay hotel ground breaking, tore down the kiosks on Coe Wood and now an announcement that he is building a bigger prison for our young men! What about trying to keep them out of prison to begin with? Where is the protection for the elderly ? Why is the social services budget growing? Any word on the seamens pension restructuring? Are we doing anything about CIFA ? Football used to keep our young men occupied. Anything on the child molesting athletics dude? Are we still playing along with that coverup?

    Only good news from this minister recently was that Grape Tree Cafe is now open for business!

  6. Anonymous says:

    Curious who got this contract. Also do they make the tender bids public? If not, why not? We all know side deals are made.

  7. Anonymous says:

    We should have an election every year, then we would get things done! Look how many things PPM is “addressing” within this last year – road expansion, Older Persons Policy, Strategic Tourism Policy, BT Boxing Gym, Young Offenders Facility…. etc. Cramming all of this in the last year but nothing done in the previous three years!! Wow!

    • Anonymous says:

      Exactly.

    • MM says:

      Last year? They have been addressing their entire PPM agenda within the last several months.

      The spent the first 3 years pleasing the private sector, and now they are out in numbers addressing all the issues of the Caymanian community just in time for check-boxing election day.

      Disgusting.

  8. Anonymous says:

    worst update ever….
    usual soon come nonsense from the do-nothing ppm…

  9. Anonymous says:

    Too late, typical,

  10. Anonymous says:

    I wonder how many things the progressives are going to start at the end of their time.I guess it may be just like last time , they will spend all the money and leave the island in debt for the next government.

  11. Anonymous says:

    Finally. This has been on the wish list for years. The magistrates and judges has been asking for his facility for at least 15 years.

  12. MM says:

    Oh!

    They are going to start it now? A few months before the wrap-up of the LA.

    Let me guess – then they are going to tell us that the only way we can be sure that this facility will be completed is to vote them in again.

    A divided government creates a divided country – soon to be 19 members and only the cronies can agree.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Wow aren’t they doing a great job folks? Let’s vote them in again to finish these worthwhile projects!

    I’d be willing to bet they haven’t started this yet and it won’t be finished until about 2050.

  14. Anonymous says:

    Do those who would be running the facility have relevant education and experience?

    • Kimmie says:

      Probably not….

      We need to legalize abortion in Cayman, sad as it may sound; it is a necessary action long over-due.

      We also need free birth control for girls….too many children having children.

      Prevention is better than cure.

      • Anonymous says:

        Birth control is free. You can go to the family planning clinic and then get whatever you need including the coil.

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