The Barbados Police Service stepped up efforts to tackle youth unemployment on Monday, rolling out the third intake of their King’s Trust International initiative and urging communities to support the programme’s focus on confidence-building and real-world skills.
Speaking at the induction ceremony at the Glebe Resource Centre, St George, Station Sergeant Jamal Mohan of the Community Relationship Department and the Juvenile Liaison Scheme explained that the programme targets those who are out of work, not studying or self-employed.
“This is the third cohort for this year. We run eight cohorts a year and each targets 136 young people between the ages of 16 and 25—people who are not working, studying or self-employed—and today we have 15 participants,” he said.
The 12-week programme is broken down into seven components and, according to Mohan, the introduction stage focuses on building self-esteem and setting goals. “At the end of the 12 weeks, the main objective of this programme is that the young people will have a job, be studying or self-employed. And so far, over 700 of these young people have benefited from this programme since 2016. We have a positive output of the programme, which is about 80 per cent.”
He noted that participants are tracked for up to a year after completion to ensure they remain on a positive path. “We have a monitoring and evaluation component of this programme. So, three months after the young people leave this programme, we will contact them . . . six months after, we call them, then a year after, we will call them, and this is how we monitor.”
Senior Constable Tonisha Vanderpool-Griffith, a team leader, said the initiative was vital in countering the negative influence of social media: “[Our youth today are] impressionable and the society, our community, unfortunately, the way that they’re raised now, that is the reason why we have a lot of the issues that we’re having. Once upon a time our parents would have to call us to come in from outside… now we have to beg them to go outside and interact, put on the devices. They’re being raised, unfortunately, by social media. And the values within the community are no longer what they used to be when we were growing up.”
She explained that the goal was not only to help participants improve their own lives but to become role models for others: “For these next 12 weeks, our goal, not just as team leaders and coordinators and deputy managers, but our goal collectively on teams, the young people involved, is to make better choices, develop themselves so that beyond these 12 weeks when they go back into their societies, they, their friends, their family members, they see the change is so vast.”
The programme also instils teamwork and community service, the special constable said.
The King’s Trust International Programme is a personal development initiative aimed at assisting young people between the ages of 16 and 25. Implemented through the police service’s Community Policing Department, it is part of wider intervention strategies to break cycles of lawlessness and reduce the risk of future criminal behaviour.
Participant Ashara Squires said she joined the programme to better herself, for networking opportunities and to improve her skillset.
Kemaj Clarke said he was interested in the programme because he wanted to work on his communication skills and learn about electrical installation.
(SZB)
