The Ministry of Social Development and Family Services (MSDFS) is pleased to announce that with immediate effect, prospective beneficiaries of the Ministry’s Food Support Programme will be provided with temporary food cards (TFC) during the period preceding final review and approval of their application. According to Minister of Social Development and Family Services, the Honourable Camille Robinson-Regis: “This measure is part of our Ministry’s ongoing efforts to show that we care and that we are trying to make sure there is no gap in the support for food, for those most in need of it”.
The policy makes provision for temporary cards to be provided to households that are experiencing chronic food poverty/deprivation during the processing of their application. Individuals applying for long-term food support assistance will receive a temporary card upon initial qualification based on passing the SMT. A second TFC will only be issued upon the completion of an application and where all the necessary documentation to validate the Standard Means Test have been submitted. Such a household will continue to receive a TFC until the Food Support Application is processed and a long-term Food Card is delivered or the household has been deemed ineligible for food support following completion of the investigative process.
It is expected that over five hundred households per month will be impacted by this measure. Some of these will include households with persons with disabilities, children, as well as, recent applicants from the National Social Mitigation Plan’s Social Outreach Caravan who passed the SMT.
Additional information will continue to be made available via the Ministry’s website and social media feeds. Alternatively, clients can also call the Ministry’s toll free hotline at 800 -1MSD (800-1673).