The team mandated by Minister of Human Services, Priya Manickchand to investigate the handling of Neesa Gopaul’s case has recommended that two officers be fired and another demoted for their failure in adequately assisting the child who was brutally murdered after more than a year of abuse.
The report also revealed that Neesa’s maternal grandparents were culpable as they refused to take care of the child and her sister–who were placed in their custody by the agency because of fear for their safety–because they felt the mother should have given them more than $8,000 a week for their upkeep.
The three officers attached to the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) had knowledge of the child’s case but failed collectively to take the necessary actions that could have resulted in her being saved. One of the culpable officers–the former director of operations–resigned a few days after Neesa’s body was found but had publicly said she had nothing to do with the child’s case. Even though the officer resigned it was still recommended that she be dismissed.
Some of the findings of the report, which was compiled by Head of Social Services Wentworth Tanner, Shirley Ferguson, coordinator of the Child Rights Division within the ministry, and head of the ministry’s Woman Affairs Bureau Hymwattie Lagan were yesterday made public by Manickchand during a press conference.
The mangled body of 16-year-old Neesa, a former student of Queen’s College (QC), was found stuffed in a suitcase in a creek at the now abandoned Emerald Tower resort on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway on October 2. Her mother, Bibi Sharima Gopaul and her mother’s lover Jarvis Small have since been charged with her murder.
It was revealed that Neesa was brought to the CCPA’s attention since October last year and while two officers were assigned to her case, on two separate occasions she was still left to live in a home which was regarded as abusive.
Her death, the brutality of which shocked the nation, not only exposed lapses by the agency’s officers but also teachers at QC and police officers at the Leonora Police Station. This has seen investigations also being launched at the ministries of Education and Home Affairs.
Stabroek News has been reliably informed that the Education Ministry’s report, which is expected to be made public today by Dr Roger Luncheon, has revealed among other things that teachers at the school had photographic evidence of marks of violence on Neesa but failed to take them to the police or to the Human Services Ministry. It is not clear what, if any, actions are going to be taken against the teachers at the school but sources have revealed that there was evidence of a forged entry in a log book at the school – an attempt to cover-up the actions or lack thereof of the teachers.
Individuals and agencies that fall under the three ministries all failed to adequately assist the teenager and one of the recommendations in the Human Services Ministry report is for the immediate communication to teachers, head teachers and police officers, through the Education and Home Affairs ministries, their roles and responsibilities “created under the new pieces of legislation recently passed into law which include allowing Child Protection officers access to children; and reporting as soon as practicable thereafter…. Any reports about child abuse made…”
‘Difficult
environment’
According to Manickchand, on October 29, 2009, a QC teacher took Neesa to the agency and reported that the child was living in an environment that was “characterized by physical and drug abuse and by the threat of sexual abuse.”
A case worker, referred to by the minister as ‘Officer One’, was assigned to the case and the agency had Neesa and her sister removed from their mother’s home and placed in their grandparents’ care.
“Not long after the said placement the grandparents refused to continue looking after Neesa and her sister and sent them back to their mother. The grandparents indicated the refusal of the mother of the children to give more than $8,000 per week for the upkeep of the children as their reason for sending the children back to their home,” Manickchand said yesterday.
According to the minister, the removal of the children from their grandparents’ home was not communicated to any senior person in the agency and as such their re-integration into their mother’s home was not approved by the director of the agency, as is the established procedure. In the meantime, Neesa had stopped attending counselling sessions at the agency and efforts were made by ‘Officer One’ to contact her. ‘Officer One’ later enlisted the help of the police. On one occasion, “after much pleas,” the police accompanied the officer to Neesa’s home “but refused to go into the yard as they said they had already been subjected to much criticism from the public regarding their dealings with another young person.” The officers were from the Leonora Police Station, where a 15-year-old boy had his genital area burnt during a murder investigation.
“When several efforts to contact Neesa at her home failed, ‘Officer One’ visited Neesa at school and, despite resistance from the principal, was able to speak to her,” the minister said.
The child indicated that her mother did not want her to continue counselling sessions and told the officer that all was well. As a result, the officer formed the view that the child was not living in an environment that posed any risk to her welfare or well-being.
Resurfaced
It was not until August 24, this year that Neesa’s case resurfaced at the agency when a report was received from a social worker at a West Demerara hospital about alleged sexual abuse. The matter was then assigned to a second caseworker, referred to as ‘Officer Two’ in the report. That officer made four visits to the home of the child to speak to her but was never able to do so. And even though after the first visit ‘Officer Two’ was advised by ‘Officer One’ that in order to speak to Neesa a visit to the school would have been necessary, ‘Officer Two’ failed to do this or report the alleged abuse to the police. ‘Officer Two’ also failed to inform a senior officer about the difficulties being experienced in reaching the child.
“From the investigators’ report it is clear that following both reports, the report from October 2009 and the report from August this year, caseworkers did not follow the documented and/or established procedures for addressing matters that engage the attention of the CCPA,” Manickchand said yesterday.
Meanwhile, as it relates to the management of the agency it was found that the then Operations Manager, referred to as ‘Officer Three’, by her own admission failed to do obligatory and necessary daily management of the operations of the agency resulting “in no or no proper supervision and/or follow up of cases that had come to the attention of the agency.
In a six-month period ‘Officer three’ had been written to in excess of three times about her failure to perform in the capacity in which she was hired and about her continuous absence. Unfortunately, although so advised, no action was taken by the Personnel Division,” the minister said. That officer also continued to render professional services to another, accepting remuneration therefore without the permission of the Government despite being asked repeatedly to cease and desist from “this unlawful practice.”
“It is also clear that supervisors in the Operations Department of the agency did not show due diligence in following up on the cases assigned to the individual caseworkers in the agency,” the minister further said. She stated that it was the failure of the two caseworkers and their immediate supervisors that was at the heart of the failure of the agency in the matter.
“While not making any excuses for those failures, it must be noted that the investigation also revealed that the working conditions, specifically physical accommodations should be improved and new tools added to make the agency more effective.”
As a result it was recommended that a building be made available for the agency and according to the minister this process had begun prior to the child’s murder and the contractor has indicated that the building will be ready by next month end. An increase in the complement of child care and protection officers at the agency was also among the recommendations.
The minister made it clear that the agency was not responsible for the child’s death as the responsibility “lies squarely on the shoulders of those who did this fiendish act.” But nevertheless, she said “we share responsibility for not providing her with enough protection. We share this responsibility with the police service and the education system and we share this responsibility with the family members of Neesa and the community where Neesa lived. None of us can be absolved.”
