The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

TWENTY-ONE caregivers of the Bahamas Children’s Emergency Hostel successfully completed an in-house training programme designed to improve the level of care and professionalism at the facility.

As a result, a graduation ceremony was held yesterday at the centre on McKinney Drive off Carmichael Road to celebrate the group’s achievement of nine distinctions, ten credits and two passes in the ten-week programme.

Social Services and Community Development Minister Melanie Griffin said the training was a positive step in the right direction.

“There may be some who question the need for training of persons in the care of children as there is often a view that once you have children of your own or raised children, you know what to do,” she said.

“Caring for one’s own children can be challenging, so even more so then, is caring for the children of others, especially when these children have come from situations that may not have been pleasant or where they may have been exposed to negative influences or harmful conditions.”

The BCEH houses 38 children and is the second oldest residential care facility of its kind in the Bahamas.