The Ministry of Social Development and Family Services will host the last leg of its public consultations on the Green Paper for a National Parenting Policy for Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday May 8, 2018.
The Ministry kicked off its series of consultations on March 16, 2018 to gauge the public’s views on what should be included in the policy. This included a one-day session, designed specifically to capture the views of partner ministries, non-government and faith-based organisations, as well as international organisations and academia.
Phase II of process involved national consultations targeted at the general public, six (6) of which were held to date at the Sangre Grande Civic Centre, the NESC Campus in Couva, the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts, the Bon Accord/Canaan Community Centre Tobago, the Goodwood Secondary School, Tobago and the UTT Valsayn Campus. The final public consultation which is carded to take place in Port of Spain on Tuesday May 8th from 10:00 am – 12:00 noon at the City Hall, will also target community groups, village councils, students, School Teachers and supervisors as well as representatives of NGOs, CBOs and FBOs. Members of the public who were unable to join us before are encouraged to attend this session.
Among the wide range of contributions made thus far, were the need for greater parenting support, provisions for single parent households and parents of children with disabilities; a legislative framework to ensure proper parenting and a proper value system, to be included in the national policy. Many persons also expressed the need for more input from the community and the church in ‘raising the child’ as was done long ago.
Phase III of the process will entail focus group sessions aimed at specific groups of parents and children across various regions in Trinidad and Tobago. The Ministry expects that the Green Paper will be revised and converted into a white paper for approval by the cabinet so that implementation of the policy will begin towards the end of fiscal 2018.