DJJ seeking staff for Children's Residential Treatment Center

The Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) is seeking staff for the Children's Residential Treatment Center established in Haa Alif atoll Hoarafushi.

In the announcement made by DJJ, job openings have been identified for an assistant counselor, program officer, senior juvenile justice officer, workers and child care attendants.

The deadline for submission of applications is 12pm on 18 April.

The Juvenile Justice Act requires centralized treatment for children who live in environments that place them at risk for criminal behavior. The law came into effect in 2019, and five years later, two important centers remain not in use. Former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had established the Children's Residential Treatment Center in HA. Hoarafushi, along with a halfway house in Dhaalu atoll Kudahuvadhoo under the Juvenile Justice Act.

However, the state of the center in Kudahuvadhoo has prompted the incumbent administration to convert the center in Hoarafushi into one that can accommodate residential treatment within the next few weeks.

At a news conference held on Saturday by the social sector, Minister for Homeland Security Ali Ihusan stated that children who completed the residential treatment program needed to be transferred to the halfway houses, and that they could not initiate the second step in the system without completing the first stage.

"If the center in Dh. Kudahuvadhoo is step one and we cannot bring it to operationality, then it would be impossible to initiate step two in this system. As such, we have decided to start the center out in Hoarafushi as a Juvenile Residential Treatment Center. If all goes well, we will be able to open the center within the next week," said Minister Ihusan at the news conference, which was held inside Iskandharu Koshi in Malé City.

He added that the center would be opened as soon as possible so the rehabilitation of at-risk and top priority children could be started. He revealed that there were about 200 children identified as high-risk and in need of prompt treatment.

The Juvenile Justice Act requires children at risk to be taken into state custody and given long-term residential treatment. The government has decided to set up a long-term residence care facility in a separate village to care for the children until they turn 18 years of age.