By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THERE ARE mounting concerns over the Government's Social Safety Net scheme, the Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), even though thousands of beneficiaries, islandwide, began receiving their first allowances under the programme on Wednesday.
PATH is geared to meeting the needs of the most economically vulnerable individuals and families in the island. However, the Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers (JALGO), which represents poor relief officers, is warning the Government that there is need for a review of the programme and greater inter-sectoral dialogue on the matter, if it does not want PATH to alienate the destitute and elderly indigent.
"We are warning them not to move ahead with the expansion of PATH, until the programme is fine-tuned. Both the Poor Relief Officers and other persons who will be administrating the programme, as well as the public in general, need a clearer understanding of the project. More discussions on the matter are needed," cautioned Helene Davis Whyte, General Secretary of JALGO.
But, Senator Floyd Morris, State Minister for Social Security, is insisting that there is no need for undue concern about the PATH scheme, as his Ministry will be going down the consultative path in having the criticisms addressed. He is promising that in January, consultations with JALGO on the matter will continue.
In an interview with The Gleaner, Mrs. Davis Whyte lamented that promises by the Ministries of Local Government and Labour and Social Security, to meet with her organisation this week to discuss some of the hitches in PATH, have failed to come to fruition.
"There is need for some clear understanding as to what the programme is going to entail and how it is going to be delivered. Up until now there is nothing finalised with us, " added the JALGO official.
JALGO is of the view that unless the programme undergoes some modification, the "total individual will get neglected."
"For many of the existing Poor Relief clients, our fear is that they will end up getting less attention under PATH," said the union, as it charges that "PATH is skewed towards addressing the economic well-being of the person and not the care of the total individual."
Turning to another matter, JALGO highlighted concerns that its proposals on the PATH venture has been swept aside. The union contends that its concerns were informed by kinks it detected in the pilot project in St. Catherine.
"One of our recommendations is that the Parish Councils should be the implementing agency for the PATH, rather than the Ministry of Social Security. We are of the view that the Parish Councils are already organised in a fashion that would enable them to enable a programme like PATH without much difficulty."
"We would want them to build on the Poor Relief Programme, rather than end up with a programme that delivers less benefits," argued Mrs. Davis Whyte. PATH which is aimed at replacing the government's Food Stamp Programme and outdoor Poor Relief Programme, has been piloted in St. Catherine since March this year, where some 2,000 families representing 6,000 individuals were targeted. Since then a mass registration of the programme has been done across the country, and some 115,000 beneficiaries have enrolled and more than fifty percent of that number began receiving first payments on Wednesday, reports the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
Then there is the matter of job security for the just over 100 Poor Relief Officers in the Local Government system whose lives will face some changes, as a result of PATH. Pointing out that uncertainty hangs over the future of those workers, JALGO contends that government needs to clearly outline what their fate will be. Legally, the officers cannot be transferred from the Local Government Ministry to the Ministry of Social Security, until the legal hurdles are cleared up. The route of 'secondment' is to be pursued while the authorities await the legal hitches to be sorted out.
And in the interim, what is the outlook for Poor Relief Officers? "Pryce Waterhouse Coopers who were hired to do a study on what it will take for the institutional framework for the programme, which would include staffing arrangements."
"We have not been given the final document, so that we are not able to say how many persons they are seeking to have on staff under the PATH Prog-ramme. So, we are not able therefore to say whether there is the likelihood that Poor Relief Officers will be made redundant or not," complained JALGO's General Secretary.
Meanwhile, Senator Floyd Morris, State Minister for Social Security, is insisting that there is no need for undue concerns over the PATH scheme, as his Ministry will be going down the consultative path in having the criticisms addressed. He is promising that in January, consultations with JALGO on the matter will continue.
Senator Morris told The Gleaner that on the matter of Poor Relief Officers, there will be a Secondment of those public sector workers, and the Second-ment will be dealt with through "a Memorandum of Understand-ing that has been drafted and will be circulated to the Parish Councils for discussion and approval."
While the Junior Social Security Minister was unable to say how many Poor Relief Officers will find employment with PATH, he pointed out, "We will ensure that in every parish there will be a cadre of Social Workers and Poor Relief Offi-cers will form part of that cadre. We will be engaging in re-training and reassessment of those individuals." He also noted that some 90 Social Workers are already attached to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and from that pool will come some of the field workers for PATH. "The Social Workers no longer have to distribute benefits, so they will be better able to do case management of the poor and indigent. They will also monitor the programme to see that parents are sending to school, those children who are benefiting from PATH." Starting this week, Senator Morris would be going across the island to assess the operation of the programme.
"The 115,000 beneficiaries began getting their benefits through the post offices today (Wednesday) and come February that figure will move up to 206,000. The phasing in of beneficiaries will continue until June. We have a capacity for 236,000 beneficiaries but that can be expanded depending on the needs."
The payments are $300 per month in the first year, and this will increase to $500 per month in the third year.
