Welfare programmes not reaching the most vulnerable

Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on poverty Corey Lane is suggesting that some of the most vulnerable persons in society are not getting the help they need from social agencies.

He said research has showed that scores living in poor conditions have been falling through the cracks, in some instances by choice, because they were intimidated by the process of accessing assistance from social services.

He said some of these persons claimed they were turned off because of what they experienced when they approached the agencies or were scared off by the “nightmare stories” they heard from others who sought help from relevant agencies.

Lane said some people simply do not have any faith in the system after being turned away on numerous occasions.

Outlining that the report on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2019 showed that 19.3 per cent of Barbados’ population was living in poverty, Lane told Barbados TODAY that this was one of the main reasons Government was moving full steam ahead with its Household and Family Enablement Programme.

He said the programme, designed to identify 500 of the most vulnerable families on the island, involved giving them needed access to medical attention, making employment opportunities available for those who are employable, and also providing educational opportunities for householders according to their levels and capacities.

“The fourth is housing. What is the position with their housing stock? Do they fall under the programme for the replacement of pit toilets to water borne toilets?

“Do they fall under the need for repair to the roof, particularly after the passing of Tomas? What type of housing improvements will the family need,” he said.

The social activist explained that phase one of the Family Enablement Programme commenced in October 2019 through accessing information about families in need from social agencies including the Welfare Department, Child Care Board, Ministry of Housing, Ministry of Education and other relevant stakeholders.

“I think more than 500 families have already been identified. Welfare alone, would have submitted almost 500 and a lot submitted by some of the agencies would have probably been duplicates.

“But a lot of the other agencies would have identified those people who would have avoided welfare, and the number would be well over 500 by now. So the whole idea is to look through now and see who are the most vulnerable 500 through a case-by-case analysis,” he said.

The Special Advisor said that during Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley’s statement on her administration’s seven-year development plan, she reiterated Government’s commitment to tackling the issue of poverty and getting it under control in a timely manner.

He noted that as part of its SDGs, Barbados intended to have its poverty rate sliced in half by 2030.

“Government has already started because with the BERT programme, the Prime Minister had already anticipated that there would be some social dislocations. So in anticipation of that, she had given the welfare department an additional $5 million in the Budget to make sure that the immediate needs of vulnerable families are met.

“You know we say we have to teach people to fish, but some people are too weak to even hold a fishing rod. So what Government has done is to put $5 million at the disposal of the agencies on the frontline to ensure that they are able to give people enough strength to hold the rod and teach them how to fish,” he said.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb