Runaway teen receiving care

Last Thursday afternoon a social worker along with CATT officials went to a home where she had sought shelter since running away from the San Fernando Police Station on May 11 and accepted her into their care. Newsday was told that a preliminary investigation revealed that the teenager had a genuine case and officials were “of the view that she is in need of protection.”

Yesterday the Good Samaritan who spoke with Newsday said the girl went willingly with the social worker.

“She was overwhelmed and broke down in tears because she never expected everything to happen so fast,” the woman told Newsday.

“She is tough and not really one to cry, but that someone had come to her rescue and the promise of a better life and that she could finish school, really touched her.” Saying that she and her family had built a relationship with the girl over the few days she spent at their home, she said she hoped that they would see her again after she settles down.

In an interview with Newsday, the teenager spoke in detail of being from a dysfunctional family and the many problems she endured over the years forcing her to run away from home on four occasions. Her mother died when she was seven years old and she said she was sent to Canada to live with relatives. She returned to Trinidad after four years but her life went downhill, she told Newsday. On May 6 she ran away from home - a male relative made a missing person’s report and on Mother’s Day she was found and taken into custody at the station. She escaped by jumping through a window at the police station.

The Good Samaritan expressed gratitude to Newsday and CATT . “I was told she is the first case they had since the legislation was proclaimed,” said the Good Samaritan who asked not to be publicly identified.