The Child Development Agency (CDA) is a leader in Jamaica’s child protection system, with a growing regional reputation for our work in promoting child-friendly policies and ground-breaking programmes to strengthen families. Established in 2004, out of a merger of the Child Support Unit, the Child Services Division, and the Adoption Division, the CDA is now under the purview of the Ministry of Youth and Culture.
In carrying out its mandate, the agency:
- Provides support to children in need of care and protection (those who have been, abused, abandoned, neglected or vulnerable due to disability);
- Carries out advocacy/public education programmes to prevent child abuse;
- Investigates reports of child abuse, abandonment and neglect to determine the best interest of the child which supports the Courts and the Police;
- Provides quality care for children who are brought into the care of the State (those who live in children’s homes and places of safety).
- Advises government on policy and legal issues relating to children.