| Date: | 2005- |
| Web: | Official website of the programme |
| Description: | Food Support Programme is a short-term food assistance and developmental programme, aimed at providing social protection by promoting nutritional and food security for vulnerable households. As of 2019 the programme began being called Food Support Programme (formerly Targeted Conditional Cash Transfer Programme(TCCTP)). The programme places emphasis on psychosocial work with participant families. Successor of the program Social Help and Rehabilitative Efforts (SHARE). The programme acknolwedges the influence of the Chilean program "Puente" on its design. It also aims to improve the links between the recipient families and the available network of public social services and programs, with special interest in social promotion (professional and skill training, entrepreneurship). |
Characteristics
| Target population: | Poor families |
| Geographic scale: | National |
| Targeting method: | 1) Proxy means test: Families in poverty according to the calculation of officials of the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services. 2) Categorical: Households whose situation and information is verified through visits by officials of the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services. |
| Instrument of selection: | Index of Quality of Life calculated from information provided by families. |
| Exit strategies or criteria: | Limit of permanence: 2 years. No recertification. |
| Comments: | As of 2019, the new debit card 'Food Card', focused on food consumption under the Food Support Program scheme, began to be implemented. As part of the measures to face the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and social isolation, families using the Food Card component received additional transfers for a period of three months: April, May and June 2020. Households with three people received TTD $ 150, households with four or five members received TTD $ 300, and households with six or more people received TTD $ 450. |
Institutionality
| Legal framework: | |
| Responsible organization(s): | Ministry of Social Development and Family Services. |
| Responsible organization(s) for the registry of recipients: | Ministry of Social Development and Family Services. |
| Source of funding: | Government of Trinidad and Tobago |
1) Food Card
| Recipient(s): | All participant households |
| Mode of transfer: | Transfer according to household composition (number of children) |
| Mode of delivery: | Magnetic card (Smart Card) |
| Periodicity of delivery: | Monthly |
| Recipient of the transfer: | Household representative |
| Maximum per household: | Maximum number of recipients (6) per household with decreasing amount |
| Conditionalities: | Employment: Enrollment of eligible persons in an employment agency. Training and information: participation of users in life skills activities (family planning, financial issues) Professional training: attendance of 85% to professional training courses. |
| Comments: | There is a temporary and a long-term card. 'Temporary cards last for one month but persons are eligible to receive three such cards whilst waiting for the long term card. In terms of flexibility, the programme does not allow for cash transfers for anything other than food purchases. As part of the measures to face the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and social isolation, families using the Food Card component received additional transfers for a period of three months: April, May and June 2020. Households with three people received TTD $ 150, households with four or five members received TTD $ 300, and households with six or more people received TTD $ 450. |
| Amount : | In 2020, TTD $ 510 for households between 1 and 3 people; TTD $ 650 for those between 4 and 5 people; and TTD $ 800 from households with 6 or more members. The transfer amounts increased by TTD $ 100 per month for each type of household, as of January 2019. |
2) Vinculación con otros programas (Access to other programmes)
| Recipient(s): | All participant households |
| Description: | Recipients households are offered access to social development programs, among which: technical and vocational training, social abilities, financial management, family planning, parenthood training and entrepreneurship. |
3) Acompañamiento Familiar: Social Transformation and Empowerment Programme - Uplifting People (STEP-UP)
| Recipient(s): | All participant households |
| Comments: | This component is executed through the Family Intervention Network (FIN). It is recognizead as an adaptation of Chilesolidario's Programa Puente offering an approach to targeting the vulnerable by meeting them at their door, in their community or wherever they may be. |
| Description: | Step Up seeks to implement a system that allows transform recipients protagonists of their own development, rather than assuming them as passive recipients of public policy. The head of household assume an important role in the process of family recognition of their behavior, capital and abilities of each member that could be useful to face future challenges. Thus, the aim of Step Up would be to reduce psychosocial barriers to enable the development of the members of the family. The component's original name was RISE-UP, it was changed to STEP UP in 2018. |
A Note on Targeted Conditional Cash Transfer Programme (TCCTP) in Trinidad y Tobago
| Author: | Hailu, Degol and Cecile Pemberton |
| Date: | 2007 |
| Publication info: | International Poverty Center, DRAFT [online] |
| Link: | See Webpage |
| Topic: | General information |
