Staffers from the Ministry of Equity alongside other key stakeholders recently participated in a comprehensive interactive workshop aimed at enhancing their skillset to better administer two vital social intervention programmes.
The two-day consultative training exercise was geared at augmenting the skillsets and working knowledge of key personnel involved in the administering and implementation of the government’s Public Assistance Programme (PAP) and Koudmein Ste Lisi (KSL) Programme.
The initiative, undertaken from March 16 to 17 was led by the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and Empowerment, the agency charged with overseeing government’s massive social protection apparatus.
The latest workshop is a follow-up from an initial exercise in 2022 that sought to develop a comprehensive operations manual that would guide officers’ actions in the field.
“We are trying to share with them the details and content of the operations manual so that they understand what is included in the operation manual and how to navigate the procedures. They will also acquire knowledge of cash transfer services, the new communication strategy and the new grievance mechanism,” remarked Dr. Julie Xavier, workshop facilitator and development consultant.
Aligned with the objectives of the World Bank funded Human Capital Resilience Project (HCRP), harmonization of the PAP and KSL will improve service delivery in case management, cash transfer services, as well as articulate procedures for referrals, verifications, monitoring and evaluating.
Technical coordinator attached to the HCRP and workshop coordinator Juliana Daniel-Foster notes that, “Social protection operates on several pillars, one of which is unique to both Koudmein Ste Lisi and the Public Assistance Programme (PAP). That unique pillar is the cash transfer grant. Due to its presence in both KSL and PAP proper referral, verification and case management systems must be implemented to better serve the poor and vulnerable in society.”
The interactive case management discussions examined various ways to prepare and handle future challenging social interactions faced by welfare officers, social transformation officers and family case workers from the Ministry of Equity, the Saint Lucia Social Development Fund (SSDF) and the Division of Human Services.
Apart from the Public Assistance and Koudmein programmes adopting a similar cash transfer service, beneficiaries of the PAP gain access to medical care at government healthcare facilities like eye care, spectacle replacement opportunities every two years and burial assistance.
The Koudmein programme, however, is a holistic intervention that provides a package of support services under its seven pillars, two of which includes psychosocial support and housing to families living in extreme poverty.