Senior Multimedia Journalist
joshua.seemungal@guardian.co.tt
Police and officers from the Children’s Authority swooped down at the Couva Children’s Home and Crisis Nursery on Wednesday, where they interviewed some of the children and seized expired goods from the facility.
Staff said residents over the age of ten were interviewed by police. While whistleblowers have focused on the way allegations of sexual touching against residents by a 12-year-old former resident were handled by their seniors, staff at the home also have concerns about other aspects of mismanagement.
According to the home’s manager and administrator, Kerri-Ann Leon Sing, who was suspended by the board after speaking out, staff, at times, had to prepare meals for the children with goods well past their expiration dates. She added that concerns about the home’s management did not end there. Leon-Sing also accused management of withholding and hoarding gifts donated to the children.
“There are some peas in there as long as I am there, and I am there six years, you are seeing things like snacks that are years past. We are talking about sanitary items that are years past and sometimes the aunties would not only throw them away but also end up having to use their own money to buy replacements.
“I know specific things that children would have asked for, so I added things to their Christmas list like bikes because I knew the bikes we already had were broken down. So they could have done with some good bikes, and the only kids that currently have bikes that were issued for Christmas are the toddlers—two of them. The other kids, as you would have seen (in the videos), it’s still wrapped up in the gift paper since Christmas last gone,” Leon Sing said.
Home: All food used at the home was safe
On May 18, the home’s chairman, Beverly John, in response to questions from Guardian Media, said that all food used at the home was safe for use and denied that staff members have to spend their money to buy fresher goods.
“The residents receive fresh food, and the home is properly stocked with food. There is a procedure in place for the reimbursement of approved spending. Members of staff are not expected to purchase food for the residents,” John wrote.
Three days before receiving John’s response, Guardian Media was sent videos depicting expired goods from the home’s pantry. The videos taken by Leon Sing showed her going through medicinal, food, and sanitary products the week before. Many of the products shown on video, she said, were expired.
“Sometimes the caregivers are given items for use that are beyond expired. They will ask me for things, and I will give them things that aren’t. “As manager of the home, I cannot tolerate what is going on at the home any further, and I think anyone who sees this video can understand. All we are trying to do is protect the children,” she said in one of the videos.
Hoarding toys, books, care items
In one video, there were shelves upon shelves of books, bath products, dozens of shoes with kids’ names on the boxes, scores of board games, and barrels of toys that were never touched by children’s hands. According to Leon Sing, they were locked away in rooms, preventing caregivers from giving them to the children. She said many items were donated to the home or gifted to children over the years, as recently as last Christmas. In another video, more than 20 bicycles—many still wrapped—were seen wasting away in a store room. There were also bags of Christmas gifts—toys, board games, and other things—from last December.
Leon Sing, in the videos taken over the last few months, said she was unable to show everything because she couldn’t risk being caught in the rooms where employees were barred from entering.
During May, Leon Sing received information that her superiors were dumping expired goods to get rid of evidence, in case the Children’s Authority investigated and flagged the issue. In two separate videos, she showed a dumpster full of crocus bags with expired canned goods, expired medication, health supplies, and other food supplies.
After the authority went to the home last week, some of the cupboards seen in Leon Sing’s videos with expired goods were left empty.
The following is a list of expired items shown on camera in the videos.
Redoxon-expired August 2023
Dricoril-C cough syrup-expired February 2022
Otrivin children’s nasal drop-expired September 2018
Radiuz children’s nasal drop-expired 2019
Boxes of calamine lotion-expired 2018 and 2019
Bisolvon-expired December 2018
Box of odizole-expired July 2020
Baby panadol-expired July 2020
A-45 cream-expired November 2016
Bucket of sugar-expired June 2022
Buckets or rice-expired 2021 and 2022
Desitin diaper rash cream-expired 2020
Box of zinc and castor oil-expired 2022
Tin of Malta-November 2022
Plasticine-Expired 2019
Turkish sweets-expired 2014
Bottle of jam-expired August 2022
Read beans-expired September 2023
Packs of lentil peas-expired 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
Giant lollipops-expired 2022
Split peas-expired December 2020
Canned pink salmon-expired July 2022
Canned chicken breast-expired November 2020
Canned mackerel-expired 2020
Canned evaporated milk-expired March 2022
Canned mixed vegetables-expired December 2021
A full shelf of canned beans-expired 2021
Pack of Thousand Island salad dressing-expired 2020
In late May, Leon-Sing as well as several caregivers, who asked not to be named, came forward, saying that several children had been sexually and physically abused by an older resident over six years. Between 2018 and 2024, there were 25 incidents of sexually inappropriate behaviour by the alleged perpetrator against 11 children and two dogs.
The whistleblowers also claimed that attempts to have the child transferred were initially blocked by superiors.
In a media release, the Board of the Couva Children’s Home and Crisis Nursery confirmed that on May 14, the Child Protection Unit of the TTPS removed three residents of the home. The board said that given the fact that the situation involves minors who are wards of the state, it cannot disclose confidential information that may prejudice the outcome of any investigations, and that can negatively affect the minors connected to the matter.
“In February 2024, the Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (CATT) raised a matter with The Home that involved more than one resident. This revelation prompted an investigation, and immediate measures were implemented by The Home’s management in consultation with the authority.
“On May 13, 2024, the board received its first communique from the manager outlining the matter that had been receiving the attention of CATT. On May 14, 2024, the board was informed by the chairman that the Child Protection Unit removed three of the residents connected to the matter. This action followed a report made to the police by the manager, who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of The Home and who reports to the board,” said the board in its response to questions from Guardian Media Limited.
It added that emergency meetings were held on May 15 and 16 to discuss the matter and to ensure first and foremost the immediate safety of all minors at the home.
After going public with her concerns, Leon-Sing was barred from the compound and subsequently suspended. Leon Sing was issued a letter from the home’s director, Linus Rogers, on Wednesday, which outlined an apparent breach of contract by divulging matters relating to an internal investigation at the home, referencing her appearance on CNC3’s newscasts.
“This represents a direct violation of paragraph 5 of your contract of employment, which debars you from making any public statements of the operation of the home.” In the letter, Leon Sing was instructed to proceed on paid administrative leave from June 3 until the board decides how to proceed.
Children’s Authority: Expired goods were found
The Children’s Authority confirmed that, as part of its continued investigations into the operations of the home, it found expired goods were being stored at the facility. “The authority views any breach of the licensing requirements of a home very seriously and has taken immediate and decisive action to ensure that all protocols and standards of procedure in the operations of the home are maintained. “A team from the authority’s Licensing and Monitoring Department is working collaboratively with the Board of Directors to institute a more efficient inventory system,” the authority said in a release. However, the authority said its investigations revealed that no expired items are in use for the children.
