Child Commissioner calls for ‘better security’ in Church homes
Outgoing Commissioner for Children Carmen Zammit has called for better security in Church-run homes for children.
“The workers, the nuns and the children were not being adequately protected from aggression, whether caused by the parents, relatives of the children, or the children themselves,” Zammit said in a report on the controversial issue of care orders which was published yesterday.
Furthermore, the staff in Church homes for children were “not adequately trained” to protect themselves and control a situation when there was violence by the minors.
She also called for better communication between the Government and the administrators of Church homes for children.
“It seems that the authorities do not realise that the nuns are human beings like everybody else, and they get tired and stressed out like every other person,” she warned.
The outgoing Commissioner for Children complained that Church homes were “seriously under-resourced”.
“The state depended on Church homes for the placement of minors, but the homes needed to be given greater assistance, both in terms of human resources and funds,” Zammit said in her report.
The social workers at Agenzija Appogg also had “a huge workload which did not enable them to give the proper individual attention which was needed to cultivate a much needed relationship with the children, as well as their parents”.
She also called for more training for these staff members, as well as better working conditions.
Zammit also suggested a “rethinking of services at Appogg to avoid fragmentation and ensure that children continued to be closely monitored, ideally by the same persons, as they progressed.”
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