The Editor, Sir:

I have read, with great concern, the story 'I want back my children' which appeared on the front page of The Gleaner of October 23, 2007.

While I fully understand the action of the Child Development Agency (CDA) in removing the four children from unsatisfactory emergency housing, I cannot understand the brutality of separating them from their mother. This action by the CDA is symptomatic of the lack of compassion which permeates every sector of our society.

Surely, arrangements could have been made which would allow Ms. Elliott to remain with her children in a secure environment! The CDA cannot think that it can look to the welfare of children in this society without also looking to the welfare of the families to which those children belong. The psychological and emotional damage caused to these four children by this action is at least as great as the damage likely to be caused to them by living in unsatisfactory conditions.

I would have hoped to have read about an intervention by the CDA together with other relevant government agencies which resulted in the provision of housing and financial support which would have allowed this family to remain together.

It cannot be beyond us as a society to truly care for those in real need of help, and the CDA cannot discharge its obligations to our children without taking into account the plight of so many of their parents.

I am, etc.,

LYNDA MAIR

Attorney-at-Law

Kingston 5