| Date: | 2001- |
| Web: | Official website of the programme |
| Description: | Conditional cash transfer program with emphasis on vulnerable groups. It was created after the re-organization of three previously existing income transfer programs: Food Stamp, Outdoor Poor Relief and Public Assistance. In this sense, the programme's purpose is to eliminate duplication, reduce administrative costs, optimize resource use and increase the efectiveness of the allowance delivery. The programme's objectives are: i) increase educational attainment and improve health outcomes of the poor by breaking the inter-generational cycle of poverty; ii) alleviate poverty by increasing the value of transfer to the poor; iii) reduce child labour by requiring children to have minimum attendance in school; iv) Serve as a safety net by preventing families from falling further into poverty. In 2008 the program added an educational transfer similar to that of Oportunidades. In addition to this, it incorporated a grant for students who finish secondary education and enroll in higher education. |
Characteristics
| Target population: | Poor families with children under 17 years, adults older than 60 years, people with dissabilities, pregnant and/or lactating women, and/or unemployed adults between 18 and 64 years. |
| Geographic scale: | National |
| Targeting method: | 1) Proxy means test: Families in a situation of poverty according to the information in the Beneficiary Identification System (BIS). 2) Categorical: Criteria for program selection. |
| Instrument of selection: | Beneficiary Identification System (BIS). |
| Registry of recipients: | List of registered PATH participants |
| Exit strategies or criteria: | i) Death of the recipient ii) Voluntary departure from the programme iii) Fraud in the information provided about the home iv) Failure to comply with joint responsibilities for 3 consecutive periods. In this case, the participant can appeal. |
| Comments: | Besides cash transfers, the programme provides free access to school lunch and health services in communities where it operates. As part of the measures to face the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and social isolation, and in order to increase the income of the recipients, PATH increased the ordinary total amount by 50%, equivalent to JMD $ 950. In addition, students will have grants in internet data plans to access virtual classes, and the government would provide laptops and tablets to 100,000 students. Likewise, PATH provided nutritional support to program participants who were at the primary and secondary levels, and who had not attended educational centers as a result of the pandemic. Another measure was the delivery of financial support of JMD $ 8,500 for students and JMD $ 5,000 for boys and girls who would go back to school and who were in the PATH program and in the Poor relief program. This cash transfer is to be used in the purchase of school supplies. |
Institutionality
| Legal framework: | |
| Responsible organization(s): | Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS) |
| Executing organization(s): | Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MLSS), and the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development |
| Responsible organization(s) for the registry of recipients: | The Management Information System (MIS) unit of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MLSS) generates and manages the list of registered PATH participants. |
| Source of funding: | World Bank (WB), Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the Government of Jamaica |
1) Health Grant
| Recipient(s): | 1) Children under 59 months 2) Adults older than 60 years old 3) People with dissabilities 4) Pregnant and/or lactating women 5) Unemployed poors adults (between 18 and 64 years) |
| Mode of transfer: | Flat transfer |
| Mode of delivery: | Magnetic card |
| Periodicity of delivery: | Bimonthly |
| Recipient of the transfer: | Direct participant (Family representative) |
| Conditionalities: | Household members must make their first visit to a health center to establish their schedule for future visits. The frequency of visits per year to the health center depends on age and health status of the participant: i) Infants 0-11 months of age = 5 visits; ii) Children from 1 to 5 years and 9 months = 2 visits; iii) Pregnant = 4 visits (or depending on when the woman joins the program); iv) Lactating woman = at 6 weeks and between 3 and 4 months after delivery; v) Older persons, disabled and poor (only the head of the household) = 2 visits. |
| Sanctions: | Payment is suspended if the co-responsibilities are not met and/or the grant is not collected for 2 consecutive payment cycles. |
2) Education Grant
| Recipient(s): | Children aged 6 to 17 years |
| Mode of transfer: | Transfer according to the participant characteristics (amount is 10% higher for men, it increases in up to 50% if the child is enrolled in the first level of secondary education and up to 75% if he/she is enrolled in the higher level of secondary education). |
| Mode of delivery: | Magnetic card |
| Periodicity of delivery: | Bimonthly |
| Recipient of the transfer: | Family representative |
| Conditionalities: | Children must have at least 85% attendance per school year |
| Sanctions: | Payment is suspended if the co-responsibilities are not met and/or the grant is not collected for 2 consecutive payment cycles. |
3) Post-Secondary School Grant
| Recipient(s): | Children that finish secondary school and enroll in higher education |
| Mode of transfer: | Flat transfer |
| Mode of delivery: | Magnetic card |
| Periodicity of delivery: | Lump sum transfer |
| Recipient of the transfer: | Family representative |
| Maximum per household: | One transfer |
| Comments: | Elegibility is restricted to students recipients of at least one PATH transfer during secondary school. |
| Amount : | The allowance ranges in value from JMD $15,000 for recipients re-sitting CSEC examinations, to JMD $30,000 for those pursuing Associate Degree programmes. |
4) Base benefit
| Recipient(s): | All participants of the programme |
| Mode of transfer: | Flat transfer |
| Mode of delivery: | Magnetic card |
| Periodicity of delivery: | Monthly |
| Recipient of the transfer: | Family representative |
| Comments: | Non-compliant participants receive a minimum amount of JMD $400.00 per month instead of not amount at all. This transfer started to apply in june of 2010. |
5) Tertiary Bursary
| Recipient(s): | Students from households that recieve a PATH allowance and are currently studying in a terciary education institution. The objective of this component is to assist participant students with the cost of pursuing Bachelor’s Degree programmes in accredited institutions (universities and teachers' colleges). |
| Mode of transfer: | Direct transfer to the participating institutions |
| Periodicity of delivery: | Annual |
| Recipient of the transfer: | Accredited terciary level institution |
| Conditionalities: | The bursaries can be accessed as long as the student maintains a GPA (Grade Point Average) of 2.5 between the second and fourth year of school. |
| Comments: | Bursaries are paid directly to participating institutions who manage the application process on behalf of PATH. Eligibility is restricted to persons who had received at least one PATH payment while in secondary school. |
| Amount : | JMD $ 100,000 |
5) Back-to-School Grant
| Recipient(s): | Children in vulnerable condition |
| Mode of transfer: | Cash transfer according to the destinatary's characteristics (students and children in early childhood). |
| Mode of delivery: | Magnetic card |
| Periodicity of delivery: | Bimonthly por PATH recipients and monthly for Poor Relief recipients. |
| Recipient of the transfer: | Family representative |
| Comments: | The programme consists on an economic aid due to the Covid-19 pandemic, directed to students that are going back to school and are participants of the PATH programme (Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education) and/or the Poor Relief programme. The objective of this allowance is to be utilised to buy school supplies. |
| Amount : | JMD $8,500 for students and JMD $5,000 for children in early childhood. |
The Programme for Advancement through Health and Education (PATH), Jamaica
| Author: | Inter-Regional Inequality Facility |
| Date: | 2006 |
| Publication info: | Policy Brief 4, February, Inter-Regional Inequality Facility at the Overseas Development Institute, London |
| Link: | See Webpage |
| Topic: | General information and impact evaluation |
Social Safety Net Reform in Jamaica Experience of the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH)
| Author: | Innerarity, F. and Risden, C |
| Date: | 2010 |
| Publication info: | Social and Economic Studies, 59(1/2), pages 181-209 |
| Link: | See Webpage |
| Topic: | General information and impact evaluation |
Do Conditional Cash Transfers Lead to Better Secondary Schools? Evidence from Jamaica’s PATH
| Author: | Stampini, M., Martinez-Cordova, S., Insfran, S., and Harris, D. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| Publication info: | Technical Note No. IDB-TN-1125 from IDB |
| Link: | See Webpage |
| Topic: | Impact evaluation |
Evaluation of Jamaica’s PATH Program: Final Report
| Author: | Levy, Dan and Jim Ohls |
| Date: | 2007 |
| Publication info: | Mathematica policy Research, Inc., marzo [en línea] |
| Link: | See Webpage |
| Topic: | Impact evaluation |
