Program for MM street dwellers a year-round operation – DSWD

Metro Manila street dwellers given access to different government programs and services are not sent on vacation but kept off the streets, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said yesterday.

Secretary Corazon Soliman said the reach- out operation is a year- round, 24/7 effort with the concerned local governments, with street facilitators on the frontline.

“We continue to emphasize that families being rescued from the streets are brought in for orientation and possible inclusion in the modified conditional cash transfer (MCCT) program,” she said.

“They are not taken on vacations. We have been doing these initiatives since 2013, when MCCT was launched. Hence, it is not true that these are being done just because the country is hosting the Asia- Pacific Economic Conference (APEC). Moreover, we do not only cover Manila, but also other areas of Metro Manila.”

The MCCT is an expansion of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program providing a complete package of assistance to street families, including responsive shelter program, access to social services and economic opportunities for the improvement of their living conditions.

It also extends house rental assistance of up to P4,000 per month, which is paid directly to the lessor, not the families, for six months to one year.

At present, 4,408 MCCT- registered beneficiaries are in the National Capital Region, the DSWD said.

Of this number, 3,954 families already have a place to stay and the rest are still undergoing identification for alternative family home.

During “reach outs,” street families are taken to various DSWD centers and institutions or other training facilities where they are interviewed, assessed and profiled for possible inclusion in the MCCT, Soliman said.

They will later be oriented on their benefits and responsibilities under the program, which include sending their children to school and visiting health facilities, she added.

Activities during the orientation are meant to inculcate family values, strengthen family unity and enhance roles of parents to ensure that they can protect and take care of the well-being of their children, Soliman said.

“We are doing this because we recognize the need to get these families off the streets, considering the dangers that they are exposed to,” he said.

“Aside from health and safety reasons, we want them to dream again and realize that they have the option to leave the streets.”