The Maxfield Park Children's Home is both the largest and oldest home for displaced children in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. Founded in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

in September 1918, the facility houses children from all

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

ranging in age from birth to 18 years. Children are admitted to the home after having been determined to be in need of care and protection as provided by the Child Care and Protection Act, which was nationalized in 2004. Children at the facility are referred from the Jamaican Child Development Agency (Children's Office), the police and the courts (Children's or Family). The facility is run by the Child Protection and Family Services Agency of Jamaica. As of January 17, 2023 approximately 86 youths were housed in the facility.

Investments and improvements

In September 2018, the Maxfield Park Children Home's administrators embarked on a new initiative to construct a mental health center at home. As part of a $USD 1 million construction project, the complex will provide housing accommodation for females aged 18–21, who have exited State care and have no other living options, over a period of two years. These facilities form part of a multi-agency project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) over a period of six years at a cost of US$5.2 million. State minister Robert Morgan has stated that thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) from the Child Protection and Family Services Agency will go towards constructing the Child Therapeutic Centre at Maxfield Park Children's Home. The additional funding for the $117 million project will come from the Jamaica Social Investment Fund Basic Needs Trust Fund (JSIF BNTF), a project funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).

Notable residents

* Reggae and dancehall artist

Yellowman Winston Foster , (1956 or 15 January 1959) better known by the stage name Yellowman and also known as King Yellowman, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. He first became popular in Jamaica in the 1980s, rising to prominence with a serie ...

was a resident of the home for a period of time. * Reggae singer, songwriter and record producer

Leroy Smart Leroy Smart (born 1952) is a reggae singer-songwriter and record producer from Kingston, Jamaica. Biography Smart was born in 1952 and orphaned at the age of two. He was raised at Maxfield Park Children's Home and educated at Alpha Boys School ...

entered Maxfield Park at the age of two where he resided for ten years.

References

{{Reflist Kingston, Jamaica