Summary:
The Child Care and Protection Act is a law seeking to promote the best interests, safety and well-being of children in Jamaica.
Description:
This law is aimed at promoting the best interest of children, as well as their safety and well-being (Section 3). According to this act, a child is every person under the age of eighteen years old (Section 2(1)).
Furthermore, among different factors (Section 2(2)), the law provides important guidelines on determining the child’s best interests, which includes “the child’s physical and emotional needs and level of development” and “the child’s level of education and educational requirements”.
In addition to that, this law recognizes the provision of “adequate food” as an important aspect of the duty of providing care to children (Section 27(1)). However, there is no definition on “adequate food” in the law.
For FULL purposes, this act is important because it guides all policy-oriented actions related to children in Jamaica.