Welfare Dept changes tack amid mounting pleas for help

Increasing applications to the Welfare Department are pushing management of the state-run agency to adjust in an environment where face-to-face consultation is discouraged.

Chief Welfare Officer Deborah Norville revealed that online applications have tripled in just a week as the department embraces technology to improve efficiency and ease the strain on its already backed-up telephone lines.

Scores of persons facing eviction, mounting utility bills, empty cupboards, and generally stretched resources are said to be responsible for the surging applications in the midst of increasing joblessness.

“Up to last week we had 600 applications online, then you had a backing up of the telephone calls. People are trying to call in and officers are trying to call out, so there are some connectivity issues. I am hoping that with the weight it is under, that the electronic system currently in use holds up,” said the Chief Welfare Officer.

“In response to the increasing demands, we would have added more persons to the list of cash grants, added more people onto the food vouchers’ list and increased the value on those vouchers. We are doing regular one-off payments and clearing arrears for rents and utilities and we are working closely with the Barbados Alliance to End Homlessness (BAEH) in terms of our socially-displaced population, commonly referred to as the homeless,” Norville explained.

As a result of the run on Government’s welfare services, existing clients are being asked to reserve online service for new applicants.

Additionally, Norville has promised that persons already listed on the department’s register are automatically registered for assistance from one of Government’s 60,000 care packages and other public sector programmes.

“If you are already a client of the welfare department and you have a relationship with your welfare officer, you should be able to make contact with that officer and put a plan in place for your next distribution of a voucher. We also don’t want persons to be constantly calling the department to clog up the lines, preventing other people from getting in,” she added.

The increasing demands will invariably require increased financing, but Norville says Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Cynthia Forde remains “very sensitive” to the needs of the vulnerable and has promised to shore up the department’s financial resources as needed.

The department is strongly considering supplementing human resources with five temporary contract workers to assist with the rising number of applicants allowing the department to maintain a high quality of service.

The Chief Welfare Officer is also encouraging potential clients to contact the department at welfare.department@barbados.gov.bb. (KS)