New social care model coming

BARBADOS IS GETTING help from Chile and the Organisation of American States (OAS) to improve efficiencies in the delivery of social services.Minister of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment, Urban and Rural Development Christopher Sinckler introduced the team, including Paola Barros, provincial coordinator of Solidarity and Social Investment Fund in Chile and Julie Nurse, social development specialist at the OAS in Washington DC, at a Press conference held at Government’s offices, Warrens, St Michael, yesterday.He said they were expected to spend a week in Barbados to start a series of detailed discussions aimed at sensitising the key participants and other stakeholders in the delivery of the Indentification, Stabilisation, Enablement and Empowerment (ISEE) Bridge services here – a model that is being successfully operated in Chile and other Latin American countries.The social care model that has been supported by the OAS, through its social network dating back to the 1990s, is also being introduced in Jamaica, Trinidad and St Lucia.“It is not about how much money you spend. It is about how impactful the programmes are. That is really what we are trying to do with this programme. It is not necessarily to cut the budget. The budget might very well increase depending on what is presented. It is getting the agencies to work together so that you don’t have duplication of effort,” Sinckler told the DAILY NATION.He explained that Government was trying to introduce a family-oriented approach to resolving poverty issues, rather than focusing on individuals for a reform of the social services sector, and the Welfare Department would play a vital role in the operation of the model.“It is also intended to ensure that people in families do not fall through the cracks. They will be looking at seven different pillars [such as] employment [to find out] who is working and not working and why not, level of income, education, level of training, quality of housing. So all of the agencies that deal with the reduction of poverty, as opposed to working in separate, sometimes unconnected points, we are going to bring all of them together,” Sinckler said. (SR)