‘Do not judge’

There is a call for persons working in the state-owned social protection agencies in this country to be more sensitive and compassionate to those seeking their assistance, and to also evaluate their cases in a timely manner.

 

Government’s Adviser on Poverty Eradication and the Millennium Development Goals, Undene Whittaker, lamented that there have been instances where persons who have sought assistance from those institutions, have been “given quite a bit of old hassle” to get what is theirs by virtue of them being citizens of this country. She was speaking to the issue while delivering the Democratic Labour Party’s lunchtime lecture on Friday afternoon.

 

“…Do not seek to degrade the persons who go to get assistance. Ensure that as soon as you complete the process of collecting the information, gathering your data and passing it on to persons who would then make decisions, so do. I am really appealing to those persons who have the authority to say to those workers, those employees at institutions who can dispense social protection assistance to persons who require it, to be sympathetic, to be empathetic, recognising that everyone is not fortunate enough to be born with, or to come along through circumstances where they are better off,” she said.

 

Government’s Adviser on Poverty Eradication maintained that these individuals must recognise that their role is to ensure that Government’s money is to be spent on persons who require it. She made the point while also calling on these workers not to pass judgement on the clients that come before them.

 

“I know there are some persons who make a determination on why a woman has so many children, or why she does this, or why she does that, but our role is not to be judgemental. Our role, if we have the opportunity, is to care for people, to give them what is their right as an individual,” she said.

 

Whittaker contended, “Leave the judgemental process alone, you job is not be judgemental; it is to seek to dispense what is rightfully theirs as long as you meet the criteria for it to be given.”

 

Her comments came as she warned that if the State fails to help these persons, they would find other means to get by, which she said could “lead to more social concerns”. She told those gathered that in another year or two some $10 million will be made available through the Ministry of Social Care and the Ministry of Labour to help persons to reengage in the workforce including learning new skills and to become more productive citizens and Whittaker said, she is hopeful that when that funding becomes available, it is dispensed fairly.

 

“If we are going to have funding available and it is not being dispensed, it is a waste of time to have it. So I would hope that everything is put in place. I also will work with that programme and I know that I will ensure that what has to be done is done correctly. As I said, those persons who seek to get that help should not in any way be ostracised, or that the funds should be withheld from them, as in some cases it is done now,” she stated. (JRT)