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By Kevon Browne
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): On June 13, 2024, Minister of Social Services Isalean Phillip held a press conference to officially announce changes to the Life Improvement for Families in Transition (LIFT) social assistance program and share lessons learned from the previous Poverty Alleviation Program (PAP).
The LIFT programme is an upgrade of the previous Poverty Alleviation Programme (PAP) by the SKNLP government.
Under the PAP, families with incomes below EC$3,000 will receive financial assistance of EC$500. After reviewing the programme and instituting several changes, the number of beneficiaries under the PAP was reduced from 7,400 to 7,400.
One of the most impactful changes is the lowering of the eligibility threshold. The new income threshold is set at $2,500 in gross monthly income, making it clear that the program is focused on the most vulnerable households.
Azilla Clarke, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Social Development and Gender Affairs, brought about the changes by drawing lessons from the workings of the People’s Action Party.
“The two most critical categories are family, and family is any person occupying a physical space. Because of the ever-changing nature of family systems, in reality, people in the same physical structure are not all contributing to the same dream. They contribute to their own individual subset of the dream. Therefore, investing $500 in that family generates more controversy than support.
“That’s why we’re turning to family now. Family is both your biological parents and the people you choose to be part of. So whoever you choose as your support system, that’s the family unit that you enroll in LIFT. Multiple family units may be in the same structure or on the same property area. So those are some of the challenges.
And then, as the Minister pointed out, the income threshold of $3,000 is an attempt at economic indicators. Since we as an island nation do not manage and influence these indicators, most of our energy costs are imported, all of which are beyond our control.
“We have now indicated that this money will only be tied to and support those who make the minimum wage or less. This helps us define who the most vulnerable are. That definition changes based on information received by the ministry, sustainable development statistics and other indicators. So, as I said, we look forward to learning more about the experiences of the most vulnerable so that we can improve our response.”
PS also shared some lessons learned from the construction of LIFT.
“Lessons learned in the build-out. A lot of people are explaining personal circumstances, and a lot of people feel like we don’t sympathize or understand. Eligibility is based entirely on income, not your specific circumstances. Once you’re approved for the program, we explore the personal circumstances that are causing you concern. As the minister pointed out, budget, housing, quality and rent, co-parenting, child support, (and) lack of source of income for the family. These are opportunities now for us to work on policy and legislation to be able to close these gaps for more individuals and families.”
To illustrate other ways the Ministry of Social Development and Gender Affairs can help those in need, Clark pointed to some of the different programs available.
“I also want to take this opportunity to highlight some of the other programs that the Ministry of Education is responsible for. Later this month, I think it will be Monday (June 17), we will be launching a school uniform assistance program. This program only provides school uniform assistance to vulnerable parents. We also have medical assistance specifically for children and all adults. The maximum amount is $5,000.
“These payments are made to health facilities to cover medical needs, from simple prescription drugs to complex specialist surgeries and interventions. We also provide burial assistance. Our aim is to prioritise those coming from hospitals, Kadam House and others without family or support to have a dignified burial.
“That’s our priority, but of course, it’s open to the public as well. If you have the wallet, because many of us don’t have death insurance either, (or) funeral assistance. So we need to think about those things as we age because funeral costs go up, as does everything else in society.
“We have a shelter service. This is again specifically for victims and survivors of domestic violence. If you are a victim of domestic violence and you and your children have nowhere else to go, you can contact the ministry and get safe shelter in a number of approved shelters that we have a partnership with.
“This provides you with a safe space to receive services to not only heal physically, but also to restore yourself and live independently. This service, all of these services can be added. It’s not that you can only get one or the other. Just LIFT does not allow you to get our food stamp assistance and LIFT at the same time. That’s the only exception. But all of the other services that you get (depend on) whether you qualify for those services.
“As LIFT has stated, you cannot be a beneficiary of our food stamp assistance program. The amount of our food stamp assistance is based on your household size. It is redeemable at participating supermarkets. No, you will no longer receive cash to go to the supermarket, but the vendor will know.”
As the name implies, LIFT is designed to help families with incomes below the new guidelines escape poverty. Beneficiaries will participate in case management and receive benefits for 9 to 24 months. After this period, an evaluation will be conducted to determine the best course of action to exit the program, demonstrating the program’s commitment to breaking the cycle of dependency.
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