Chief Executive Officer of the Child Development Agency (CDA), Alison Anderson (right), and her executive secretary, Deverline Waller (left), take a break from handing out stickers, flyers and greeting cards promoting foster care and family love, on Oxford Road, on Wednesday. - Contributed

In celebration of National Foster Care Recognition Week, the Child Development Agency (CDA) Wednesday took to the streets in an islandwide roadshow to promote the importance of adopting a child.

On Valentine's Day, between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., members of CDA, including chief executive officer, Alison Anderson, and her regional directors, were on the streets promoting foster care and family love.

Dispersed throughout Jamaica, groups attached to the CDA toured the Corporate Area, the western region and north-east Jamaica to promote that foster care can provide a better quality of life for children who have been abandoned, orphaned, rejected or suffer any other form of abuse and are in need of a substitute family.

Rashida St. Juste, public relations manager at CDA, said that numerous flyers, book markers, stickers were distributed to persons on the streets.

Good reception

"We got a good reception, where some persons were saying, 'you know I was thinking of adopting a child," said Miss St. Juste.

Last year, there were 240 foster care placements. This figure was below the agency's target of 300, said Miss St. Juste. In addition, there are approximately 800 foster care families in Jamaica.

"We have set the same target this year, which we are hoping will be surpassed," she said.

There are currently 1,148 children in foster care; this figure represents 22 per cent of the number of children in the care of the Government.

The CDA National Foster Care Recognition Week, which came on-stream last year, culminates on Saturday.

Contact: Child Development Agency, 2 King Street, Kingston; Telephone 948-7206.