Govt to launch community outreaches to identify areas for co-investment in care centres

The government will soon roll out a nationwide community outreach programme to identify ideal areas for its co-investment initiative in care centres, Minister of Human Services and Social Security Dr Vindhya Persaud has announced.

The government is prepared to offer targeted tax incentives and other forms of support to individuals interested in establishing child care and elderly care centers nationwide.

Speaking on the Starting Point programme, Dr Persaud explained that the initiative will be implemented through a range of flexible models.

“What the co-invest model looks at, and where government is looking to co-invest is government spends part of the money and the person, the woman or women, will have something to offer that will together create enough to start. So, it could be government helping to complete a space, furnish a space, furnish the space only. So, there are different models. It could also be not only an individual, the consortium, the group of women. It could be a faith-based organisation. It could be an NGO. It could be civil society. So, there are many different models we are looking at with the preponderance of women, especially,” she explained.

She emphasised that the individuals involved in the venture must be trained in care, something which is being offered for free by the government.

Meanwhile, apart from having the physical space to facilitate the establishment of a care centre, the minister explained that environmental factors are also important.

In this regard, she said the government plans to conduct a series of community engagements across the country on this initiative.

“I’ll be going on all of them to let women know directly, okay, we’re coming to your community. This is what we’re looking at. Does your community have what is required? Do you have people who are going out there to work? Do you have the kind of influx of children in that community? Are you close to an existing centre?…So, all of those things are very important in the process going forward,” Dr Persaud noted.

Moreover, the Human Services Minister assured all interested persons that the ministry will provide the necessary support throughout the entire process.

“We will be providing technical support from beginning to end. And we will continue to monitor because one of the things we want to do is when we make a capital investment, when we make any kind of investment, we want people to actualise their dream…we will walk you through all the steps and we’ll make sure this is a reality. We will monitor you and track you to make sure you’re delivering the kind of service. It has to be in alignment with our standards as regard to the Child Protection Agency,” she noted.

“And it is something I think so needed that when it starts, I think then people realise what kind of impact it would have. Because let’s face it, a lot of women out there have delayed going into work, into careers, even into study because child care was not where it should have been,” the minister added.

A key priority of the initiative is to ensure that rates remain affordable.

“One of the things we’ll be asking all of these persons who work with us is to cap their rates so that it’s affordable. If we’re going to invest with you while you’re going to earn, and we want you to earn, be affordable,” Dr Persaud expressed.

Additionally, the government previously stated that another key intention of this initiative is to create hundreds of community-based entrepreneurs.