Unemployed mother Letticia Paul, who suffers with seizures, was one of the first 40 recipients of a Baby Care Grant Debit Cards from the Government yesterday as the card was launched during a ceremony at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s. Paul, who is unable to work because of her illness, had gone to pick up her four-month-old daughter from the Chinapoo ECCE centre recently when a friend told her to apply for the grant.
She said she filled out a form and provided her child’s birth paper and other basic information and was called a short time later to attend yesterday’s distribution. “I really appreciate it. It will help me out a lot,” Paul said in an interview with the T&T Guardian. The Baby Care Grant was announced in Parliament during the budget presentation last September and will cost$100 million.
Under the programme, $500 monthly cards will be granted to needy mothers of children born during the 2014-2015 financial year. If someone has twins between this period they will receive $1,000 a month for one year. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday the cards, which would be accepted at over 290 supermarkets across T&T, was for “special mothers.” The criteria for “special mothers”, identified by Minister of the People Christine Newallo-Hosein, was that their parents combined household income could not exceed $3,000.
Other than this, applicants needed to be the natural parents and adoptive or legal guardian of the child. The card is to be used to assist to buy specific products, diapers, hygienic supplies, baby formula and baby food, baby equipment, infant clothing and baby toiletries. Newallo-Hosein said the ministry did not have measures in place to monitor the type of items being purchased with the card but said supermarkets were given strict guidelines when it came to items allowable under the grant.
“These are the first cards and forms are open to every mother to be or father to be. Everyone is open to apply but it is not for every baby born. There is an income ceiling, only the most vulnerable, based on the income ceiling, will qualify,” she said. The cards were retroactive, she added, so every child born since October 1 last year would be eligible for a card and would receive retroactive payments.
Persad-Bissessar explained the delay in launching the cards, saying it was because of security measures. She said it should now “roll out” rapidly. The cards come with a mandatory requirement for parents to attend training sessions on family planning, financial literacy and parenting skills. If they don’t attend the sessions the card will be terminated by the ministry. Other mothers expressed thanks to Persad-Bissessar and the Government for the assistance.
Forms given at UNC forums
Asked whether the cards would be distributed equitably, Persad-Bissessar said yesterday’s distribution was only the launch and that the card would be accessible to all applicants who met the criteria. Several parents said they received the applications during United National Congress events. Ashley Goddard, another mother, said she received a phone call on Tuesday from the Ministry of the People, asking her to attend yesterday’s launch.
“I don’t know how they got my information, maybe somebody from the hospital but I am still grateful for the help,” she said. Cherry Khan, who received help for her four-month-old baby Ashreeya Khan, said the card was offered to her during a UNC walkabout in the Toco/Sangre Grande constituency. “The MP was walking and they asked me if I gave them my information,” she said.
Another mother said her cousin had arranged for her to get the card and she had then received a phone call from the social welfare office and filled out a form while on the phone. One mother, who was encouraged by Persad-Bissessar to tell the story of how she applied for the card, said she had attended the UNC Monday Night Forum in Aranguez and had taken her baby to the Prime Minister.
“She asked me if I had applied for the baby grant and I told her no, that I didn’t have any information. Then she told me to contact Christine Newallo-Hosein and I got a call to come today,” she said.