CAY BAY--Miss Lalie Centre is celebrating its first anniversary this week.
The facility officially opened its doors on December 10, 2014, in the presence of former Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson, family and friends of the late Eulalie Meyers and stakeholders of the Youth Care and Rehabilitation Centre.
The facility provides a structured living and learning environment to boys ages 12-18 years who have been placed at the facility by judicial authorities under a civil or a penal title. The centre caters to a maximum of 18 residents. Its main goal is to provide tailored care and rehabilitation to the youth of St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius.
The residents receive counselling, guidance and treatment within the facility. For each resident an individual treatment plan is formulated depending on the different challenges confronting the person in question.
The Centre has chosen a systematic approach to the care and rehabilitation provided for the youth based on the social competence model, which focuses on teaching the youth social skills they can use throughout their lives. It helps them reflect on their behaviour and focuses on making the right choices now and in the future.
This method teaches them not only to focus on what is going wrong, but to put the emphasis on what they are doing right. It is aimed at improving the physical, social, mental, economical, spiritual and psychological wellbeing of each resident.
Residents follow a structured day programme of education, extracurricular activities and social time all geared towards equipping them with competencies to improve social interaction. After completing the required time for treatment or detention given by the judge, the youths return to their communities with better chances of being resilient and responsible residents.
Parents, guardians and the whole support system play a vital role in the treatment and development process, from intervention to aftercare. In the coming year the facility plans to focus more on counselling and guiding the parents so that its main goal of helping the youth is accomplished by means of encouraging a healthier parent-child relationship.
The Centre also has plans to continue to create brighter future prospects for the youth by working together with the community and businesses on the island.
Youth detention centre is celebrating one year
