"Thief. No good. Your mother don't want you." They are not exactly the words a young woman wants to hear. Yet twenty-two Sharlene* has heard them all. She's never committed a crime and the estranged relationship she has with her mother isn't her fault, yet Sharlene has been stigmatised and victimised all because she grew up "where they put the bad girls": St. Jude's Home for Girls in Belmont.?"When you're from an institution, people find out your business," Sharlene said, her voice raised with frustration. "And once they find out, they start dropping words." Ever since she left St. Jude's, Sharlene has been hostel hopping. She believes that her St. Jude's past is a direct result of her constant moving around. Her recent abode was at a hostel in Port-of-Spain where she claimed she was blamed for everything that went wrong, once word got around about her background.
Every missing piece of clothing, every loud radio was her fault. She claimed that even the hostel's matron was against her and verbally abused her. The situation reminded Sharlene of living with her own mother– who also lived at St. Jude's and gave birth to her when she was 12-years-old. Sharlene defiantly stood up to the matron of hostel and was immediately served with a letter of eviction. She barely had two weeks to find another place. "Is better you don't talk your background when you go to these places," she said bitterly. Officially, St. Jude's is the remand centre and safe house for girls aged 12 to 18 who get caught up in the court system. Some of them are deemed 'beyond control' because they're engaging in drug use, gang lifestyles and promiscuity. Others are the rope in a bitter custody tug-of-war. Still others are victims of physical, mental and sexual abuse and need to be protected by the State until they can make it on their own.
The home tries to give girls both an academic and a skills education. In January eight girls completed CXC; six passed. YTEPP has taught them hair dressing, entrepreneurship, grow box programmes and a sponsored life skills and culinary development class places them in jobs in the food industry even before they leave the home. The public's perception of the girls of St Jude's is a stark contrast. The girls are seen as thieves, liars and criminals waiting to happen. That's why when they are mandated to leave the shelter at age 18, girls from St Jude's find it so hard to secure rooms in hostels - usually the only places they can afford. Fifty-three-year-old Laura George, the social worker at St Jude's, has heard stories like Sharlene's all before. And she's incensed that these girls, who are trying to climb out of their difficult backgrounds, are being pushed into unhealthy situations by society. "Another girl left the home at 16, went (to her own) home and had to leave because of differences with her mother. When she went to a hostel, she told me, 'Ms George, these people don't like home children.'
"Two other girls said that people kept assuming that they stole things when things went missing. I'm sure there may be more. They expect them to give trouble." George serves as her charges' confidant and advocate. She's usually the one who appears in court and makes recommendations based on their situation. She sees the interaction between guardian and child and knows where her charge will be better off. George admitted that most of the girls who come to St Jude's have emotional baggage to deal with. But the ones who are mandated to leave at age 18 (or a year and half later, if the court gives permission for them to stay) are those who are trying to make a decent life, albeit with little or no support. "They have been in the institution for many years, then go out into the wider society to re-adapt to their families who have also changed," George explained. "And from the children I have spoken to, they have trouble re-attaching themselves to their own home. And the people to whom they have to re-attach are not equipped with the tools to help them settle. "Institutional life is a very rigid one; you get up at a particular time; you eat at a particular time. They don't blend in easily, so they feel left out."
The limitation of freedom in homes like St. Jude's is one of the main reasons graduates often end up on the street prematurely after taking up residence at hostels, according to Assistant Matron Rosetta Hoyt of the Josephine Shaw House. She admitted that at one time , the hostel that she helps run even made a decision not to take anymore girls. "If you could visualise yourself as one of these young ladies: you're coming from one institution into another where it's not as strict. You don't have somebody on your back 24/7 but you do have rules you have to abide by. "Some girls go overboard by not adhering to the rules, period. Even though they apologise, they still repeat the behaviour. They may have to be asked to leave." The hostel has since recanted its stance when supervisors from the home took an interest in the girls who had transitioned out of St Jude's and promised to monitor them frequently. This also made things easier for hostel administration at Josephine Shaw staff, she said. George remains optimistic that one day her "girls" would one day be free from the stigma associated with their past. "Don't think that because they are from an institution they will be your worst employee or worst tenant. "Give them the opportunity to be what and who they can be. All they want is for someone to listen to them and not be judgmental."
