News Categories: Social Security

The Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) stands ready to provide a range of well needed support services to members of the disabled community.

Persons with disabilities are therefore being encouraged to register with the JCPD to receive the economic, educational and social development benefits available.

Executive Director of the JCPD, Dr. Christine Hendricks, says the registration process is in two parts, which includes medical verification of an individual’s disability.

She tells JIS News that the medical report form can be accessed on the JCPD’s website at www.jcpdja.com, at the JCPD’s head office at 18 Ripon Road in St. Andrew, and at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security or the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) offices islandwide.

Dr. Hendricks says it is required that a medical professional relevant to the type of disability signs and stamps the forms.

The individual should then submit the form to the JCPD, along with a passport-sized photograph, TRN card, birth certificate, a national identification (ID) and provide relevant demographic information as requested.

“The disability has to be a permanent physical, intellectual, mental or sensory impairment determined by a medical professional in order for the person to be registered,” Dr. Hendricks points out.
Some 33,200 persons are currently registered with the JCPD.

Dr. Hendricks notes that among the benefits for members is the provision of economic empowerment grants to help persons become independent by starting or expanding small businesses. Grants range from $30,000 to $150,000.

Assistance-in-aid of up to $250,000 is also provided for assisted devices and therapies.

Educational benefits include scholarships, school fee support, books and assistance with other school-related materials.

Dr. Hendricks tells JIS News that the JCPD also provides medical support and assist persons with accessing National Housing Trust (NHT) benefits.

Disabled persons who are members of the JCPD also receive concessionary bus fares for the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC).

“I want to encourage persons with disabilities in the wider society who have a disability to get registered. Once you have an impairment, the JCPD exists to ensure that you are registered and can benefit from the numerous grants and other support services that are provided through the Government for persons with disabilities,” Dr. Hendricks says.

She is urging family members, friends, neighbours and employers to assist the disabled in getting registered with the JCPD.

Source: https://jis.gov.jm/jcpd-ready-to-assist-members-of-disabled-community/

The Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) is encouraging young persons with disabilities to take advantage of scholarships being offered at both the secondary and tertiary levels.

Executive Director of the JCPD, Dr. Christine Hendricks, told JIS News that scholarships available to persons with disabilities include the Margaret Moody Scholarship, the Jamaica Society for the Blind Scholarship and the Marlon King Memorial Scholarship.

The Margaret Moody Scholarship, administered by the JCPD, is open to persons pursuing studies at the diploma, associate degree or bachelor’s degree level.

Dr. Hendricks said the scholarship scheme was established with the objective to provide financial assistance to persons with disabilities to enable access to tertiary education and courses for specialist qualification, and to encourage academic excellence among persons with disabilities.

She further said that the scholarship aims to impact the ability of disabled persons to integrate into the employment sector and to strengthen the sector through improved self-advocacy; leadership for community development; and the stimulation of a more positive attitude for self-actualisation among persons with disabilities.

The Margaret Moody Scholarship is named in honour of a former nurse, who bequeathed a grant of $582,392 to the community of disabled persons when she died in 1985. The money was invested on behalf of the sector and the interest from the investment is used to finance the scholarship annually.

Scholarship grants do not exceed $150,000 per student per annum and can be used for tuition, boarding and other academic material.

Dr. Hendricks said the Jamaica Society for the Blind (JSB) Scholarship is for persons who are blind or visually impaired, while the Marlon King Memorial Scholarship is for persons with all types of disabilities, except blindness or visual impairment.

Scholarships are valued at $50,000 at the secondary level and $100,000 at the tertiary level.

The deadline for application to the three scholarships is July 31, and applicants must be registered with the JCPD to be eligible.

All application forms are available on the JCPD’s website at www.jcpdja.com and at the JCPD’s office at 18 Ripon Road in St. Andrew. The application forms for the JSB Scholarship and the Marlon King Memorial Scholarship are also available at the Jamaica Society for the Blind at 111½ Old Hope Road.

Interested persons may also contact the JCPD at 968-8373, 968-0623 or 926-9374-6.

“We want to encourage persons with disabilities, some who may never have heard about [these scholarships], to apply. We know that from time to time persons have challenges finding money for tuition, particularly at the higher level. So, we want them to know assistance is available,” Dr. Hendricks said.

She added that the scholarships are particularly important to the disabled community, as they give a fair opportunity for access, without the possibility of discrimination.

Dr. Hendricks also encouraged persons with disabilities to check with the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Office, for Special Student Services; and the UWI Centre for Disability Studies for additional scholarship options.

Source: https://jis.gov.jm/young-persons-with-disabilities-invited-to-apply-for-scholarships/

Workplaces will be better equipped to deal with persons with disabilities when the Codes of Practice is completed.

The document will guide employers on how to ensure that the employee is not at a disadvantage.

The Codes of Practice will provide minimum standards by which the public will be guided on how to interact with, and allow for the participation of persons with disabilities. It is a component of the Disabilities Act which was passed in Parliament in October 2014.

The Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD), an agency of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, is developing the codes, so as to expand the level of participation in the society by persons with disabilities.

Executive Director of the JCPD, Christine Hendricks, tells JIS News that the Council is in the process of drafting the first two Codes of Practice – Education and Training, and Employment.

“This should be finished by mid-year into the latter half of this year, so by year end we should have those two done already,” she notes.

Mrs. Hendricks says the rules will provide the public with practical guidance on how to include persons with disabilities in the two critical areas.

“It is not going to be a legal document. It’s going to be a practical document that any Jamaican can pick up and utilise. It is to provide that support to the Act, so that persons know what this inclusion of persons with disabilities means,” she adds.

The Executive Director points out that sometimes persons are hesitant to employ or have persons with disabilities in the classroom, because “they don’t know how to deal with them, and, as a result, they exclude them”.

She notes that the hesitancy by some persons to employ persons with disabilities often comes across as discrimination.

Steps are also being taken to improve the level of access for the physically challenged in schools. A budget of $50 million has been earmarked by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information to equip schools with wheelchair ramps.

A ‘Ramps for Schools’ project, which was launched on Labour Day, May 23 at the St Ann’s Bay Infant School, aims to install two in each of the island’s 63 constituencies.

“It’s an excellent move by the Parliament of Jamaica, having accepted the Motion moved by Senator Floyd Morris, who has been an excellent champion, making sure the disability agenda gets moving at the highest level,” Miss Hendricks says.

In March 2018, Senator Floyd Morris, who is visually impaired, moved the motion calling on the Government to use Labour Day 2018 to build ramps in schools. The motion was accepted by members of the Upper House, following which the Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, issued the charge for the National Education Trust, working with other partners, to implement the project.

Mrs. Hendricks says that access to schools, health centres and other facilities by persons with disabilities is very important to Jamaica’s development and achieving the goals in the Vision 2030 Jamaica – National Development Plan.

“It is my hope that it (Ramps for Schools) doesn’t just stop at schools and health centres, but that it permeates throughout the society, that anywhere I go as a person with a disability, I can go and shop like anybody else because I can have access to the space,” she says.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of Combined Disabilities Association, Gloria Goffe, also wants to see a continuation of the building of wheelchair ramps, especially in those schools that do not have accessible features.

“We are not just talking about ramps and about rails; we are talking about widening bathrooms, we are talking about even the way the classrooms are constructed to accommodate people with disabilities. We want a society where somebody does not have to leave their home to go to a special school, but they can remain in their home environment and attend a school nearest to them,” she says.

Miss Goffe is also appealing to persons to follow the guidelines when constructing wheelchair ramps, noting that there are complaints of ramps being built “either too steep, too narrow, too high, too wide or too smooth”.

The Executive Director emphasises that wheelchair ramps should have non-skid surfaces.

She is also calling for the installation of more kerb cuts adjoining the streets, while lamenting that some are not being constructed to specification.

“We want a society where access on the roadway is for persons with physical disabilities, persons who are deaf, persons who are blind, and persons with any kind of intellectual disability who can move about freely,” she tells JIS News.

“The Jamaica Constitution speaks about the freedom of movement. Our Disabilities Act speaks about freedom of movement of persons with disabilities, and as a society that wants to be First World by 2030, ‘First World’ means access to everyone.”

Source: https://jis.gov.jm/codes-of-practice-to-protect-persons-with-disabilities/

The programmes and initiatives for the senior citizen have been governed by the landmark National Policy for Senior Citizens (1997), which is administered through the National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC) under the governance of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS).

The policy is in its 20th year and, over the decades there have been significant shifts in the social and economic landscape that have impacted the lives of senior citizens. Not only is the cohort 60 years and older the fastest growing demographic segment, but life expectancy for men and women has increased, with concurrent longer years in retirement and improved overall health status.

The policy environment must therefore shift to address the changing dynamics within the society, meet new expectations, ensure responsiveness to emerging issues, and strengthen the alignment with development objectives.

As Jamaica advances efforts at sustained economic growth and social progress, Government seeks to strengthen the policy and legislative environments, and modernise approaches to social inclusion.

The global and regional dialogue and commitments have also signaled new directions reinforcing a rights-based approach, recognising that the elderly have specific needs that can be overlooked when the population is subsumed in “general planning”. It is widely acknowledged in the literature that the cohort of senior citizens is a reservoir of productive capacity.

Therefore, the revised policy will incorporate the productive model. This position is in keeping with the commitment expressed in Vision 2030 Jamaica – National Development Plan, that each person should be enabled to achieve their fullest potential. In this vein, active ageing is also underscored as being integral to the quality of life of senior citizens, and strengthens the paradigm shift in addressing the policy environment.

The policy revision process entailed the development of a Conceptual Framework document, with literature reviews and desk research. A Situational Analysis was conducted with primary and
secondary research data and information, and a Concept Note was derived. Cabinet provided approval for the process to continue, by Cabinet Decision 8/17, allowing for the drafting of a National
Policy for Senior Citizens.

Key consultations were held with a multi-sectoral Technical Review Panel, the Planning Institute of Jamaica, National Council for Senior Citizens, and academia.

Upon approval for public consultations, a broader public engagement is to involve senior citizens organisations, civil society, and government and non-government entities. A finalised draft policy document and broad programme of action will then be re-submitted for approval.

Source: http://jis.gov.jm/green-paper-national-policy-for-senior-citizens/

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Shahine Robinson, says a submission will be made to Cabinet in short order for an increase in the rate of pension.

She noted that the 2016 actuarial review of the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) was recently completed and will be included in the submission to Cabinet for implementation of the reform measures.

Mrs. Robinson was speaking during a recent service at the Falmouth United Church in Trelawny to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of the NIS under the theme ‘In and through the Lord: Service to our Nation – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’.

She said that the Government stands resolute in ensuring that the services offered by the Ministry will continue to be prompt and efficient while remaining relevant.

“At the mature age of 52, the NIS currently provides benefits to over 119,000 persons not only in Jamaica but across the world,” she pointed out.

She said there is recognition of the need to do even more to ensure that the population, especially the pensioners, are being adequately served.

In this regard, she informed that a number of strategies are being undertaken to ensure greater efficiency. She said that the governing law and staffing operations are being reviewed, and a pensioner reverification exercise is under way.

Mrs. Robinson also highlighted that new technology is being introduced to modernise operations, and furniture and equipment have been purchased to improve the comfort level of both internal and external stakeholders.

“This financial year, the NIS will commence the automation of its application and approval processes, beginning with funeral grants. Thereafter, other benefit types will be fully automated. Soon, the completion of paper application will be a thing of the past,” she pointed out.

Minister Robinson lauded the efforts of past and present employees of the NIS.

The NIS was the first of its kind to be launched in the Caribbean on April 4, 1966, as a department within the Ministry. At the time, it provided six benefits – retirement, invalidity, widow, widower, special child and orphan pensions.

Today, the NIS provides 13 benefits and grants where the qualifying conditions for a pension are not met.

Recently, a Reciprocal Social Security Agreement was signed with the United Kingdom, Canada, Quebec and 12 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries enabling Jamaicans to move from different countries while still benefiting from the scheme.

Source: http://jis.gov.jm/cabinet-submission-for-pension-increase-in-short-order-robinson/

THE Government will be strengthening the delivery of skills training and special education needs to poor individuals with disabilities during the new fiscal year.

This is through a $55.5-million allocation to the Social and Economic Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities Project, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Labour of Social Security.

As contained in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives, the funds will provide for employability and skills development of persons with disabilities aged 18 to 38.

It will also go towards speech and rehabilitative physiotherapy sessions for children up to six years who are beneficiaries of the Early Stimulation Programme (ESP).

Other targets include delivering workshops to parents of children with disabilities; procuring additional assistive aids; and procuring and implementing a management information system.

The Social and Economic Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities Project is funded by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Government of Jamaica.

It was originally scheduled to run from April 2013 to June 2016, but has since been extended to August 2018.

So far under the project, a labour market study has been completed; training needs assessment for providers and organisations completed; and some 500 people with disabilities have been enrolled in a skills training programme, with 66 persons employed since participating.

In addition, an institutional review of the ESP has been concluded, assistive aids have been provided to 69 children with disabilities on the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education, and a curriculum for the Parenting Intervention Programme has been developed.

— JIS

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/gov-8217-t-strengthening-delivery-of-services-to-people-with-disabilities_125818?profile=1373