Governance Concerns Mount Over Children’s Authority
Calls for the resignation of the Board of the Children’s Authority have raised new questions about governance and oversight within the agency responsible for protecting vulnerable children.
The issue surfaced after the Minister of the People, Social Development and Family Services, Vandana Mohit, publicly urged the Board to step down, citing serious concerns about financial management and operational challenges. The Minister’s statement came amid reports of liabilities exceeding TT$77 million and broader concerns about the management of the Children’s Authority.
The developments have also renewed attention on findings from an independent investigation into safeguarding conditions within children’s homes, community residences, and child support centres in Trinidad and Tobago.
One of the members of that investigation team, Chief Executive Officer of the Heroes Foundation, Lawrence Arjoon, says the authority plays a critical role but faces significant structural challenges.
“The Children’s Authority is definitely one of the most critical and important State entities that we have to date. But as the report says, as many people have said over the years, it faces significant challenges, such as it’s carrying too many functions, it has resource, it has staffing constraints. So that being said, I really was surprised that the Minister raised such a matter in the public because it says that there is or there has been some sort of breakdown in the reporting and the engagement mechanisms within the authority, the Board, and the Ministry.”
Mr. Arjoon notes that under the law, the authority operates within a defined reporting structure where staff report to the Board, the Board reports to the Minister, and the Minister reports to Parliament. He says the current public exchange raises concerns about how those internal mechanisms are functioning.
He adds that the Board itself carries significant responsibilities that go beyond traditional governance roles.
“But on the operational side, it also has a lot of responsibilities when it comes to the work, such as decisions related to the care and placement of children. Things like care plans, treatment plans, rehabilitation planning, approval of the placement of children, whether they’re in community residences or in foster care. So, it’s a lot of responsibilities that are being placed on the board, which creates some challenges.”
Mr. Arjoon says while questions remain about the future of the Board, the priority must remain the care and protection of the children served by the authority, as the country watches closely to see how the situation unfolds.
