33 young people benefit from CSJP training
THIRTY-THREE young men and women from communities across the island are better equipped to obtain employment, having graduated from the adult literacy and social skills intervention programme under the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) III.
The graduation exercise was held on December 5 at the Sagicor Auditorium, St Andrew, where participants were presented with certificates and special awards for improvement in literacy and numeracy, congeniality and overall achievement.
CSJP III partnered with the Assessment, Counselling, Training and Support (ACTS) Consultancy to engage the participants in prevocational literacy, numeracy and social skills over a one-year period.
ADDITIONAL TRAINING
Programme participants also received training in academic and behaviour intervention, mentorship for job preparation as well as individual counselling sessions.
CSJP Programme Manager Orville Simmonds, who brought remarks at the ceremony, congratulated the participants and encouraged them to pursue advanced education and vocational opportunities.
He noted that while the third and final phase of CSJP will conclude at the end of the year, the training component will continue through an arrangement with the HEART Trust/NTA.
“There are about 220 youngsters like you in other programmes, whom, we have committed, we will not leave behind. Next year, you are going to continue with your education. You have come too far. The journey is not yet finished, and we will take you further,” he said.
Simmonds noted, further, that CSJP beneficiaries will still be able to access the services it provided under the programme through the relevant ministries, departments and agencies.
Assistant programme coordinator, at ACTS Consultancy Jamaica, Faith Francis Knowles, wished the graduates well in the next stage of their journey.
Thirty-three-year-old Cheryl Williamson said she feels empowered by the skills she has gained through the training and can now set a good example for her three children.
“I want to do things that will make my children proud and not embarrass them. Right now they feel so proud of me. I feel very proud of myself,” the Rae Town resident said.
For his part, 18-year-old Alex Rutherford, who is from the Cassia Park community, said he is working on building a stable future for his one-year-old son and feels that the programme has given him the opportunity to make this a reality.
“I feel good to be graduating for the first time. I didn’t graduate from primary school or high school. I plan to do some training in the Portmore Community Centre in general construction …. I feel good that my son will grow up and take the right path, not the wrong path,” he said.
CSJP is a multifaceted crime-and violence-prevention initiative of the Ministry of National Security that focuses on building community safety and security.
The programme provides its services to 50 vulnerable and volatile communities across eight parishes.