DSWD targets more beneficiaries with modified program

THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced Tuesday that it will tap different civil society organizations (CSOs) to widen its reach to more beneficiaries with its Modified Conditional Cash Transfer (MCCT) program.

During the DSWD-CSO Provincial Evaluation and Planning Workshop at the Grand Men Seng Hotel, Roy Calfoforo, executive assistant CSO focal person of the DSWD, said MCCT works the same as the regular Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), only that this time, it will reach out to more vulnerable sectors of the society such as street children and families, children-in-conflict-with-law (CICL), indigenous people, and prostituted women.

These are the sectors whom DSWD was not able to include in the CCT, the reason the agency came up with MCCT in which the CSOs will be the ones to identify the beneficiaries.

"Sa regular CCT, dapat ang beneficiaries may address pero sa MCCT kahit street families can be beneficiaries," Calfoforo said.

The DSWD and the CSOs will forge partnerships through a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signing, which will take place next month.

After which, the beneficiaries will be granted of the cash assistance amounting to P1,400 a month, provided that they comply the necessary requirements like getting regular access to medical health care, at least 85 percent school attendance of the children beneficiaries, and monthly attendance to Family Development Session (FDS).

Failure to comply all the requirements for three consecutive instances, the incompliant beneficiaries will be delisted from the MCCT.

At least 377 CSOs from all-over the country will sign the MOA next month. Of the total, five CSOs are coming from Davao Region, but DSWD is eyeing more than 20 CSOS from the region to formalize a partnership with through MOA signing.

"We encourage the CSO to engage with the DSWD to do the ground working and at the same time DSWD will reach them out," he said.

Calfoforo added there are requirements in which CSOs must comply in order to become accredited partner of DSWD, which are a track record in extending social services to individuals, and accreditation from Security Exchange Commission, Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), or Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).

There are about 50,000 expected beneficiaries for the MCCT nationwide, of whom 30,000 have already been identified while the remaining 20,000 individuals are yet to be identified.

Hesed A.S. Lim, MCCT coordinator of DSWD-Davao, said the MOA signing with five identified CSOs in Davao Region is slated in the second week of November.

The identified CSO are “Love The Children,” UCCP Pag-Ugmad sa Kabataan Foundation, SOS Village, Tambayan Center, and Davao Jubillee.

She said a total of 6,100 beneficiaries are already identified.

The government gives families P500 a month financial assistance and additional P300 for every children in the family at a maximum of three.

Families will be under the program for five years, but Lim said when found out that they no longer have children aged 0 to 14 years old, these families will be then delisted.