Even as a child Joan Ann Edghill-Stuart knew she wanted to work with children. But it was during her tenure at the Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA) that the fire of child advocacy was really lit, and she became consumed with the passion to do what she can to make the world a better place for children.
While she deviated from this course for a few years Edghill-Stuart believes this only helped to sharpen her skills to be more effective in working with and for children. Now as Deputy Director of the Juvenile Justice Department in the Ministry of Home Affairs, she believes she is right where she belongs as she is part of a team which works towards giving children second chances.
Making it to where she is today came with its own challenges and struggles but the attorney-at-law said if she had to do it all over again, she would.
“I am a strong believer in service to humanity,” she told Stabroek Weekend in a recent interview, adding that her home and church life among other things contributed to who she is today. “Because of that some of the barriers over time they were diminished,” she said.
In fact before she started at CC&PA, Edghill-Stuart revealed, as young child she was part of a UNESCO project; as a teenager it was UNICEF; during her days at the University of Guyana it was the Legal Aid Clinic; and at the Hugh Wooding Law School it was the university’s child advocacy centre clinic. She also worked with Caricom on conflict resolution with children facing anger management issues. Edghill-Stuart also once lectured at Nations University and still does private tutoring.
“I have actually found myself where my passion was aligned working with children,” she said.
Her journey to where she is today may have been made tougher because of who her father is. She is the daughter of Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill.
“Being a minister’s daughter/pastor’s child comes with its own challenges,” she said.
But she always sought to overcome these as she marched towards achieving her goals. On her return from law school she sent out one application and that was to become the attorney for CC&PA.
She had a conversation with Director of the agency Ann Greene and learnt that there was no legal counsel at the agency, and she had to sell why a lawyer was needed. Greene agreed with the arguments she made, and the journey really began she became employed with the CC&PA in 2011.
Over her years there, she has seen the agency grow and she referenced the Child Care and Protection Agency Act that gives the legal framework for the work it does. But it was found that many in the public were unaware of the purpose of the agency and there was need for a communication strategy. Many just thought the agency existed to take away children from parents when in fact it acts as a guardian for children who are in need of care.
“I quickly found myself being so passionate about child protection matters. While I was [there] we did numerous cases where I had to obtain child protection orders for a child to remain in our care because of whatever was happening. I got orders to remove juveniles from different peculiar circumstances…,” she said of her work at the agency.
Overall, she said, the agency was working, and she was happy to be a part of that family that was involved in protecting children from violence as well as ensuring that parents who were neglecting their children were being held accountable. Empowering sessions with parents and families to help them to understand their responsibilities and getting the communities involved is also an important aspect of the agency’s work.
She pointed out that many people do not understand the caseload of CC&PA officers, but just need to see the daily reports received at the agency to know that officers’ hands are filled.
“There is always a cry for more child protection officers… It is sad to know how many children in Guyana are being abused daily and so when I was actually in the system I had an appreciation for the work they were doing and the amount of things they actually had to do,” she noted.
Working at the agency translates to going above and beyond the call of duty and one has to be passionate about as it is not a job that you can just work for a salary at the end of the month, she noted. Wanting to have a personal experience of what was happening as opposed to just representing cases in court, Edghill-Stuart sometimes accompanied the officers as they investigated cases.
She took her job very seriously as she was advocating for children, driven to do the job and as such “extremely satisfied and contented with working” at the agency.
“It something that I loved, and my soul was lit on fire when I worked with children,” she said.
‘Breaking point’
Edghill-Stuart experienced what she described as a “breaking point” when she involuntary exited the agency in 2015. Even as she speaks about it today she becomes emotional.
She recalled that it was a busy period for the agency and in the process she missed that her contract was up for renewal. By the time she realized this it had already expired and unfortunately it was not renewed. But Edghill-Stuart was quick to note that she did not believe the non-renewal was political.
She then became employed with the Ministry of Legal Affairs as a state counsel and she dealt with civil matters and it was around that time Guyana received its new civil procedure rules (CPR) and it was important for her to be there when training for the new rules was being done.
“So I was there at the point that was critical in the training of Guyana’s civil laws. I was able now to get first-hand training and knowledge on our CPR rules and for me if I am to go back to dealing with child protection matters or to open my own firm I have had training coming out of Ministry of Legal Affairs,” she said.
She found the work challenging but fulfilling as it really strengthened her, and she believes it is a job for any young attorney coming out of law school who wants to have a good grounding in the country’s laws.
But while it was good and actually empowered her, Edghill-Stuart said she eventually had to resign as she had to ensure there was balance in her life and that while she was fulfilling her passion, her mental health was also taken care of. She and a number of colleagues left in 2018 because the working environment was no longer conducive.
“When I left it was the time to leave. Everything has to come to an end, and it was time to leave. I felt as if I had growth in my life. I had matured to the point in which I needed to mature, especially as an attorney,” she said.
She does not regret working at the ministry as that break from the CC&PA and getting herself grounded equipped her to become a better advocate. It was at the ministry that she first got her hands on the Juvenile Justice Bill and that started her journey to where she is today as the deputy director of Juvenile Justice System Department.
The department was created out of the 2018 Juvenile Justice Act, which has made provision for alternative and diversion measures for juveniles in conflict with the law, both pre and post-trial, and emphasises education, rehabilitation, and reintegration measures. It also provides alternative sanctions which can be imposed on culpable youths in conflict with the law.
She had applied to become director but got the deputy position. She said the work has been rewarding and she is looking forward to the department expanding its work following budgetary allocation.
While she is not employed as an attorney, she said her advocacy skills do come into play and because of her “inherent desire to be of assistance to children and loving children. I clearly believes when you work with children it really heals your soul”.
At present, she is where she belongs and for her it was never about the money and will never ever be about the time, as she really loves interacting with children. She believes she has an ability to communicate with children and gives the juveniles at the holding centre her cellular number to make contact with her if they have issues.
She wants them to feel as if they have family and it is always about seeing what the children can become. Therefore she speaks to that person as opposed to who they are today, and this allows them to see their future selves.
‘First challenge’
It was a given that Edghill-Stuart applied to the University of Guyana to read for a degree in law, but it was there she said she encountered her first challenge.
“At that point of time it was my first roadblock and I actually wanted to quit,” she said of the experience which almost resulted in her not being accepted in the programme.
She missed the interviewing date through no fault of hers and was told she would not be accepted. She said she was “crushed and wanted to give up” but with the support of her parents she found the will to fight and in the end was accepted.
The programme started on shaky terms and she had to press harder through the courses. At one time, she said, she felt she was being attacked but she persevered.
Becoming an attorney was what she always knew she wanted, as her father, a religious leader, always proclaimed this and as a nine-year-old she knew she wanted to use her voice singing or talking to make a living. Later, when a visiting prophet told her she would become “judge of the world court” it was a done deal.
“So I think my journey actually started there with some kind of direction to particularly what was the purpose of my life. I think my father actually saw it first and having actually that steering in the right direction [I just followed through],” she said.
At St Joseph High she defied the suggestions of her teachers to go into the science stream and actually wrote a letter detailing why she should be placed in the art stream instead. From that point she participated in every elocution, impromptu speech, debate or dramatic activity at the school and this continued at the Bishops’ High School where she did A-levels and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination.
“Quickly I saw I had to desire to advocate and represent, representing my friends in just simple things in class, I was always the class prefect representing,” she said of those days.
After completing her law degree at UG Edghill-Stuart said she moved forward in faith in being accepted at Hugh Wooding and also finding the funds to complete the final part of her journey to becoming a lawyer. That last lap commenced in 2009 and while it was tough she said it “was a beautiful experience” which saw her mixing her studies with playing tennis.
It was there again that she reaffirmed she had the passion to work with children and she swapped with a colleague to get into the child advocacy centre clinic at the university. From there she has journeyed to where she is today and for her the journey continues.
