CHILDREN’S HOMES TO BE INVESTIGATED

By ABUBAKER KIRUNDA
JINJA. The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development has directed district probation officers in the country to investigate children’s homes over alleged failure to comply with required standards.

There are more than 200 homes in the country according to statistics from the ministry. The homes found without the required minimum standards are to be closed, the assistant commissioner for Youth Development in the ministry, Mr Mondo Kyateka, said.
Mr Kyateka announced the directive in Jinja last Wednesday where he represented the Minister, Mr Muruli Mukasa, at a stakeholders’meeting in the fight against child abuse.
Mr Kyateka said instead of helping the children lead better lives, some of the children’s homes have turned out to be torture chambers.
“We launched investigations and have discovered that children’s homes are being run by unprofessional people who do not follow the standards we need,” he said.
He added that one of the conditions for operating a children’s home is to have qualified social workers at the ratio of one social worker for every four children, but that these conditions are not met by many children’s homes.
CREDIT: DAILY MONITOR