JCPD Urges Persons With Disabilities to Use ‘I Am Able’ App

The Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) is encouraging individuals with disabilities across the island to utilise the I Am Able – My JCPD mobile app.

Launched in July 2025, the app is available on the Google Play Store and allows users to register with the Council as well as access a range of benefits and services.

Executive Director, Dr. Christine Hendricks, noted that the app also provides a platform for lodging complaints related to discrimination.

“That is one of the new and improved services of the Council; as a statutory body under the Disabilities Act, there is a complaint mechanism. If people with disabilities feel aggrieved that they are being discriminated in their communities and in Jamaica on a whole, they can make that complaint on the app. [We want them to know that] they have a voice,” she told JIS News.

Dr. Hendricks explained that once a discrimination complaint is submitted, it is handled by the Access Compliance and Investigation Unit.

“They will do the investigation on the other side, get their response, and if there’s an agreement, it can either go for mediation to settle the matter or it can go to the Disabilities Rights Tribunal. The Tribunal is where people with disabilities can get justice, because the settlement is final there, and whatever the Tribunal says, that is it,” she said.

The app enables users to collaborate remotely with their doctors to digitally complete medical report forms, and it also provides access to grants that support economic empowerment.

“If they are interested in [starting or operating a] small business, they can apply there for grants of up to $250,000 or, on the lower end, $50,000. They can also use it to apply for assistive aids [valued at] up to $300,000 or $50,000, depending on the cost,” the Executive Director said.

Dr. Hendricks noted that while more people are already making use of the app, the Council is seeking broader adoption, particularly among residents in rural communities.

“[Some of these communities] are very far from an office, and we want persons to know that they have access in their hands,” she stated.

Although the app is currently available only on the Google Play Store, work is under way to make it accessible on iOS as well.