Minister of Public Health Social Development & Labor, Cornelius De Weever on Monday, March 10, 2014 has served three years in office, and has seen much improvement during this time within the ministry. In this news item we will highlight the progress made at the Department of Social Services over that three year period.
"Our aim with this ministry in the past three years and beyond has been and will continue to be putting people first," said Minister Cornelius De Weever. "As I reflect on the years that have passed, I must say that we have come a long way, we still have some kinks to iron out, because the more we do the more we see the more we see that we have to do ."
The Department of Social Services has seen a decrease in complaints at the Ombudsman drop from 17 to 2 in 2013. This can be attributed to the many changes made at the department, such as the improved efficiency in processing Financial Aid, Medical Aid and Legal Aid with the strict adherence to the legal timeframe amongst other changes. In order to handle the many requests the department was receiving the human resource capacity was strengthened with the hiring of Case Workers and the acquisition of Social Workers to boost the Immaterial Aid, which includes counseling and home assessments. In addition, case management training was given to build capability for proper assessments.
Minister De Weever during his time period also established the Appeal Advisory Committee for Financial Aid, Medical Aid and Legal Aid, a body whereby those individuals who received a negative advice on their request could appeal the decision and be heard by an objective body that could overturn the decision of the original advice.
In addition, the Crisis Care Policy was approved and introduced under the authority of the department, and partnerships were forged with the Red Cross and other NGO’s for the care of people. Minister De Weever in this light and seeing the nature of the services offered by his ministry launched "Putting People First." Collaborative efforts continued with the Court of Guardianship, Safe Haven, Women’s Desk, Red Cross, Sister Basilia Center, Mental Health Foundation.
As a means of continuously boosting the service to the community, the department has staff at the Community Help Desks located in St. Peters, Dutch Quarter and Hope Estate. Staff has also been deployed to the Public Service Center located in Simpson Bay.
"It is no longer necessary for persons in Cole Bay to make the trip to Philipsburg in order to conduct business with the department, the same services are located in your community, and I am encouraging you all to take advantage of this," said Minister De Weever.
The Department of Social Services is also working closely with the Department of Labor Affairs mainly with the SEI Employability Through Training Project whereby steady referrals are given to the Job Placement and Job Coach who will then focus to improve the employability for unemployed Financial Aid recipients.