Children's Commissioner stresses need for training of carers

Children's Commissioner Carmen Zammit yesterday stressed how important it was for anyone working in children's homes, including volunteers, to undergo training.

Speaking to The Times, Ms Zammit highlighted the importance of vetting anyone working with children.

Moreover, whoever works with children has to have certain qualities since these children tend to challenge authoritative figures because they feel let down by society.

Children's homes were in the public eye last week when the Gozo Curia published a report which confirmed cases of "inadmissible behaviour" involving minors at Lourdes Home on the sister island a number of years ago.

The Commissioner said she was worried on hearing about this, adding that these children would already have undergone a huge trauma when they were removed from their family.

"One needs to be very careful that children do not go through any more suffering," she continued.

There are systems in place to protect children from abuse. The Department for Social Welfare Standards has set out standards that residential homes are obliged to follow, she said.

Moreover, children are closely monitored by social workers. Although children might find it difficult to report abuse, Ms Zammit said children have regular meetings with their social worker and are encouraged to speak out if they suffer abuse or unacceptable behaviour.

Last Friday, Gozo Bishop Mario Grech asked for forgiveness from those who were abused as children while living in the home.

In later comments he said the Church needed to be vigilant about what was going on in its homes for children, but it should also look closely at the services it was providing.

Some 400 children have lived in the Lourdes Home since it was set up in the 1950s. When the TV series Bondiplus broadcast a programme about the home some two years ago, a man said he was force-fed and made to eat his vomit when he threw up, another said he had his hand ironed and a woman that she had been dragged by her hair along a corridor.