No changes to grants for people with disabilities

While there are more people with disabilities seeking work opportunities and becoming capable of living independently, Government has no intention of taking away the grant they currently receive even if they can support themselves.

Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Cynthia Forde gave this reassurance during the Estimates Debate this morning.

She was responding to a question from Minister of Community Empowerment Adrian Forde who stated, “There is a fear that when the disabled start working and become more independent, they would stop getting the grant they normally receive. What is really supposed to happen?”

Forde said,  “We have no policy in the making to inhibit disabled people from receiving benefits when they become empowered to help themselves. We cannot truly say they are empowered if they cannot get their stipend. Now, every year there is a review of the funding but the only time we would strike someone from the list is if they have passed away. As far as I know, there is no plan to stop any stipends for people with disabilities.”

Forde also asked about incidents of child abuse and how the ministry was dealing with that issue. Director of the Child Care Board Joan Crawford stated “For the past two years the Child Care Board in association with UNICEF has been educating primary and secondary school children on cyber abuse, and there is ongoing education on other abuse matters all across the country. If a complaint is made to the board, what has to happen is that it has to be investigated, and we look at the risks associated with the complaint.

“The second component is referrals to the police, who are responsible for investigation under acts pertaining to children or abuse. At that time the Director of Public Prosecutions determines if a case should go to court, but the Child Care Board’s job is to focus on the victim and help them to heal. However, we did sensitise police officers in the past, and we want to do that again, so we will be developing a toolkit to ensure everyone knows their role in the process.”

Minister of Labour Colin Jordan asked about the role of the Bureau of Gender Affairs and how it was treating to matters relating to men. Director of the Bureau, Patricia Boyce, said that department had embarked on a series of community outreach programmes catering to men of all ages.

“This year we want to do a lot of public awareness as many men are not going onto tertiary level education anymore. We hope this financial year to have a small group session with a number of men to get an idea why they aren’t doing this. We  have started a committee which is scheduled to meet next month to look more closely at the issue of domestic violence and it is supposed to come up with an action plan on this matter.”

Forde also stated that the ministry would be embarking on a community-based parent education programme within the next few weeks.