The amalgamation of four social services under the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs will soon come to fruition, which will assist Government in its efforts at addressing issues related to the family.
Minister Kirk Humphrey alluded to this yesterday as he spoke during a media briefing to launch Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month (April) 2024.
He said: “As we amalgamate the Child Care Board, the National Assistance Board, the Welfare Department and National Disabilities Unit, these four departments, I want to tell the press that we are at a very advanced position. We have received the final report from The University [of the West Indies] that sets out the structure, the positions that will be in the department.
“We have been discussing with the unions as to the positions that we are going to be needing going forward; we have given the unions the assurance that as far as possible no one will lose their jobs in this amalgamation. In fact, we anticipate that there are going to be a number of new positions. I think we proposed 21 new positions as part of the build out of the new department.”
The Minister had earlier pointed out that, this year, a lot of attention would be focused on parenting and parenting programmes from the Ministry, the Child Care Board, the Ministry of Education as well as the Ministry of Youth.
He noted this was in recognition of the fact that “unless we tackle this scourge of abuse using the family as the foundation, the pillar, then we will not be very successful”.
Further rationalising the amalgamation, he told media representatives: “If we are going to focus on family, it is going to be important that we work together as one. So, that is why in the current dispensation, if you go and report a child abuse case, for the most part, they are dealing with the children, the parents too, to the extent that the parent is responsible for the child. But in the new entity, you will be looking at the overall – ‘Are there any persons with disabilities in the house?’ or ‘are there any elderly persons in the house?’
“Using the socio-economic circumstances to be able to then have a proper intervention, that’s why the amalgamation is important. And, if we can strengthen families, we go a long way towards reducing not only cases of abuse, but we go a long way towards being able to build back the kind of society that we are interested in, being able to build and to say that this is the corner stone of society.”
Mr. Humphrey, lamenting that traditional mechanisms of care around the family had been eroded, in many cases, opined: “While you could rely in the olden days on a grandmother to keep the children, those days seem to have been gone, apparently permanently, and the State must now recognise that it has a new role and that is why you see the Government is trying so many things to be able to fill the gaps…. That is why I think it is so important and that this department is going to be so important/critical.”
While noting the deadline for the amalgamation would be by the end of summer, he stated a lot would depend on the negotiations with the unions.
Adding that the unions, his Ministry, the Government, and the Ministry of the Public Service were in conversations, he said: “We have had several meetings with the staff, and we will continue those meetings over the next few weeks to be able to put the staff in a position where they can make an informed choice about whether they wish to stay or not in the new amalgamated entity.
“We will not compromise delivery of services to children; we will not compromise delivery of service to persons with disabilities; we will not compromise delivery of service to persons who are in need nor to the elderly. In fact, we hope to be able to consolidate and offer a better service at the end of the day and that is why we are doing this.”