JCPD rolls out 2026/27 awareness drive across eight parishes

The Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) has mapped out a slate of programmes for the 2026/27 financial year aimed at making its role and offerings better known to the public.

Speaking with JIS News, Adrienne Pinnock, Manager of Corporate Communications and Public Relations at the JCPD, said the Council is running community outreach across eight parishes. “We have done two already… . It’s two per quarter, and we are taking our services to those parishes where, based on our numbers, the information and awareness is low, so persons will now be able to connect to us,” Ms. Pinnock said.

She pointed to engagement formats such as the JCPD Town Hall and JCPD and You, along with transformational days that bring Council services and allied agencies into communities so residents can get help on the spot.

“Then our flagship activities come alive in Disabilities Awareness Week, and we want persons to anticipate that one. That comes in from November 30 until December 4, as we seek to celebrate disability awareness here in Jamaica. Then we will launch our digital marketplace come October, where we will now be sending out our first fresh pilot group of business owners on our digital spaces,” Ms. Pinnock said.

Hurricane Melissa recovery work is also continuing. The Council is issuing digital vouchers to affected people living in disaster zones and, with UNICEF, has resumed distributing water tanks to households hit by the storm. “We are recently again in partnership with UNICEF, we are doing some distribution of water tanks for families who [were] impacted by the hurricane,” Ms. Pinnock said.

Day-to-day operations have not stopped. Access audits remain under way, and the Council is still collecting views on the Disabilities Act, with further consultations expected shortly. “We are still seeking feedback on the Disabilities Act, so those consultations and interface will come soon,” she added.

Ms. Pinnock urged persons with disabilities who need support to enrol with the Council first. “So, utilise our digital systems and register with us, because before we start offering services, it’s very important that we know who persons with disabilities are, where they are located, and then we can start that conversation about what the needs are to ensure that as an organisation we are maintaining relevance,” she said.

“My encouragement is if you have not yet downloaded the App or you have not yet gone on to our website [to] utilise the web platform to get registered, that you do so and become a member of the Jamaica Council of Persons with Disabilities. Thereafter, if any of our services meet your needs, you can access them digitally. If we don’t have a service that meets your needs, then reach out and talk to one of our client care officers and we’ll be best able to refer you to an entity that can address the need that you are having,” she added.

From April through December 2025, the JCPD signed up 928 new clients, lifting the national database to 41,739 persons with disabilities. The Council may be reached at (876) 968-8373, 968-0623, or 618-1133.