Building bridges for children with disabilities
In four short months, an additional 3,187 persons living with disabilities (PWDs) were added to the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities’ (JCPD) non-mandatory registry in order to access increased benefits. The improvement in registration, made possible by a partnership with United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), saw 391 children and 2,796 adults being put on record between June and October of this year.
As result of the success over the period, the JCPD reported an overwhelming increase in access to its education grants for the 2017-2018 academic year. Between July and September alone, the Council spent approximately J$5million to cover school-related costs to more than 200 children.
Chief Executive officer of Digicel Foundation, Dane Richardson, explained that the results thus far are a strong indication of the advantage that JCPD registration offers to children and adults alike. "It underscores the opportunities we can maximise when PWDs are connected to invaluable social services," he said. Additional registration drives are planned at selected locations island-wide for the remainder of the year.
