Youth minister Olivia Grange disclosed the Government is intensifying efforts to establish a Child Assessment and Treatment Centre.

The centre will provide acute trauma treatment, specialised evaluations, psychotherapy, behavioural modification as well as counselling services for children.

Grange said the establishment of the centre is a top priority for the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, and the Child Development Agency (CDA).

According to Grange, the ministry and the CDA are trying to secure the funds for the project.

The minister’s comments follow a series of incidents in which children have been violently killed in recent months or have been the victims of fatal road crashes.

A murdered 11-year-old was most recently discovered in Harmons, Manchester. The minister has called for Jamaican families, schools, churches and the wider communities to better monitor and support the nation’s children.