Minister of Human Services and Social Security Dr Vindhya Persaud on Wednesday confirmed that Ann Greene is no longer director of the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA).
When asked the question by Stabroek News on the sidelines of the National Toshaos Conference, Persaud responded in the affirmative. However, when she was asked about the new director, the minister said that she could not discuss the issue further because “nothing is finalised.”
Meanwhile, efforts to contact Greene have so far proved futile but sources have informed that she has not been in her office since July 1, and that someone else has been introduced as the possible new head of the agency. It is not clear why Greene, who has been in the public service for more than 50 years, opted not to renew her contract, but according to sources she had been hinting for some time that it was time for her to leave.
Greene was the first director of the CPA which opened in June 2009 and prior to that, she worked in the Probation and Welfare Division of the ministry. She subsequently retired and was later rehired as director of the agency.
The CPA came into being after legislation was passed in January 2009 to make legal, the establishment of such a facility. The agency was formed to oversee care facilities for vulnerable children, as well as supervise homes and closely monitor adoptions.
The agency was also tasked with providing counselling and basic services for children in need of care and protection, including those especially vulnerable, such as orphans, children infected with or affected by HIV, and children with mental or physical disabilities.
Over the years, Greene was never one to shy away from the media even as she faced severe criticism over the handling of some cases. While she met those challenges head-on, one of her biggest might have been in 2015, shortly after the APNU+AFC administration took office when she was sent on 36 days leave following an issue with then junior minister in the ministry, Simona Broomes. Some believed that that was the end of her directorship, but following the expiration of the leave she was back at her desk. She had reportedly told Broomes, who was very critical of the agency while in opposition, “to build a relationship with the Child Protection [CPA] staff since they were hurting from previous comments of hers peddled in the media.”
In an interview with this newspaper in 2018, Greene admitted that her agency had come in for flak over the years and when specifically asked about criticism from non-governmental agencies, she had opined that at times it was self-serving as those organisations believed “that they have to dis an agency to get funding.” However, she held the view that there was room for everyone and reminded that the policy of the agency was to embrace everyone helping the nation’s children.
“They get a lot of money that are paying them big salaries,” she had said of the NGOs. “My people are public servants. They are poorly paid… and for some people in here [the agency] it’s not about the salary, it is a mission. We are on a mission.”
She had, however, pointed out that child protection was still relatively new in Guyana and people still did not understand it. Greene had boldly stated as well that the country had come a far way and even people in the developed world indicated this. She had also said that there were cases where children fall through the cracks in the developed countries and there were issues in those countries not found in Guyana.
“People seem to think that child protection is this agency and they narrow it down to Ann Greene… I am one person and I have to get systems and I have brought child protection a long way… When this agency started I had to borrow four officers and now we have 180-something staff,” Greene had said.
