The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

AFTER years of planning and research, the Department of Social Services’ Conditional Cash Transfer project is now a reality following the launch of the Ministry of Social Services’ RISE public relations campaign yesterday.

The “life-changing initiative” is aimed at “breaking the cycle of poverty”, Minister of Social Services Melanie Griffin said.

She added that with the help of strategic partners, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education will promote human capital development and poverty alleviation through the consolidation of a number of existing programmes into the CCT project.

Mrs Griffin indicated that once implemented, the CCT would replace existing programmes that address social assistance, inclusive of housing grants, grocery allowance and educational help.

Dialogue for the creation of the project commenced in 2004 after an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) study revealed that social assistance programmes in the country operated with little social safety nets to prevent abuse and misappropriation.

An agreement was reached between the government and the IDB in August 2012 resulting in the implementation of a $7.5m social safety-net reform project or the renewing, inspiring, sustaining, empowering (RISE) initiative.

RISE calls for the strengthening of the institutional capacity of the Department of Social Services, which will in turn support the consolidation of existing cash and in kind transfer programmes into a conditional cash transfer programme (CCT).

In addition to that, RISE recommended the creation of a state-of-the-art management information system that would improve the targeting process of the department through a proxy means test bringing an end to the basic staff selection process used by the department.

The IDB also called for a new payment delivery system for approved beneficiaries.

Mrs Griffin added that the adjustments made to operations in the ministry would make certain that in the future, assistance would be accessible to those who truly needed it and focus would be on changing behaviour to improve educational achievement and a healthier lifestyle among poor households.

Officials from the Department of Social Services indicated that the more than 1,000 beneficiaries registered at the department’s Wulff Road centre would be the first to experience the benefits of the new initiative in the coming weeks.

“We are concerned with breaking the cycle of poverty and simply put, we are of the view that if we improve the health and education of our children in poor households they are better able to rise out of poverty,” Mrs Griffin said.

Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald said that the inclusion of his ministry ensures that parents receiving would help play critical roles in their child’s education and educational performance.

“This sort of collaboration between ministries really helps us to move our country forward. As we move forward, I wish to see more families rise up – to be successful contributors to our national development and assist us all with building a stronger Bahamas,” he added.

As a part of the RISE initiative, families with children attending primary school must make certain that the child attends at least 90 per cent of prescribed school days and keeps up a 2.0 grade point average (GPA).

Families with children in secondary high school must meet these same conditions and ensure their child graduates.

If these conditions are not met, the child has to take part in one of a number of remedial courses in order for the grant to be maintained.

The Department of Social Services contracted the Counsellors Media Group to assist it with the creation of the RISE public relations campaign.

Proponents of the initiative claimed that if implemented correctly, the new CCT project could transform the way the Bahamas views social welfare and greatly impact those who depend on public assistance.

In November, Social Services officials introduced their new pre-paid debit card in conjunction with Bank of The Bahamas (BOB).

More than 4,000 residents of New Providence are now part of the Department of Social Services’ modernised food assistance programme.

Last June, the Department of Statistics said that since 2001, poverty levels in the Bahamas have risen by 3.5 per cent, while more than 40,000 people in the country live below the poverty line – defined as an annual income of less than $5,000 a year.