Correcting distortions also in the care of individuals and families

One of the Cuban government's projections for correcting distortions and boosting the economy during 2024, such as advancing in the implementation of the principle of subsidizing people and not products, requires updating the identification of families and citizens in vulnerable situations.

Although this has been one of the many essential tasks undertaken by social workers since the creation of this program 23 years ago by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, now it is more rigorous, dynamic, adapted to the difficult times the Island is going through and comprehensive, which will undoubtedly overcome the expectations, doubts and concerns that may be generated by the new measures announced by the country's leadership.

However, the authorities reiterate time and again that the booklet for the distribution of the Standard Family Basket and the principle of not leaving anyone unprotected will be maintained. The increase in the price of goods and services, in addition to its gradualness, selectivity and in certain activities or sectors, worries many of these compatriots who live in precarious conditions.

As Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz informed when announcing the projections, with a view to subsidizing people and not products, work is being done to update the cost of the Standard Family Basket and the Reference Basket of Goods and Services, with the prices of domestically produced and imported foodstuffs of the Economy Plan for the current year.

Given that the social worker cannot individually or in isolation achieve the results demanded by his work, the design and implementation of a whole system is moving forward, with the participation of 21 bodies and organizations, together with the indispensable and irreplaceable role of the academy.

Therefore, identifying those who are economically and socially disadvantaged requires a case-by-case analysis of their problems, assessing not only their low income but also their home environment and how they are cared for by the family members who are obliged to care for them.

Minister of Labor and Social Security clarifies several concepts

The situation of vulnerability is always associated to something, Marta Elena Feito Cabrera, Minister of Labor and Social Security (MTSS), said recently on Cuban television, and affirmed that no person is vulnerable only for having three or more children, or 60 years of age or older.

She clarified that even if they do not have sufficient income and there are people physically and mentally able to work, this group does not benefit from any protection because the greatest protection that can be given to any citizen, in any country in the world, is work, and for young people, study.

According to the head of the MTSS, the benefit, which is reviewed periodically, is provided to those who are unable to work and do not have a family member to help them.
But we have to characterize all these people, and in the event of any price increase, they will be automatically protected with the increase in the Social Assistance monetary benefits.

It is a procedure that is carried out automatically, from the Municipal Labor Departments, so they do not have to go anywhere, she explained.
Regarding the young people who today drop out of school because they are the breadwinners of their homes, Feito Cabrera explained that Social Assistance can protect them so that they can continue their education.

It would be unfortunate if a young person, because his or her income is insufficient and he or she feels this responsibility before his or her family, stops improving himself or herself. Because by law he can receive a benefit, a benefit during the whole time he is studying, she stated.

It can even be extended until after graduation, when they start working and begin to receive their first salaries, and then the aid is extinguished.

The Minister informed that together with the Federation of University Students they are updating all the young people who could be in this situation, because it is worthwhile for them to continue studying, since when they graduate they will obviously have better jobs, better salaries and they will be good professionals.

On the other hand, given that the increase in prices could have an impact on lower income workers, she reminded that they would also be beneficiaries of Social Assistance, as long as it is demonstrated and confirmed that those are insufficient to cover the Standard Family Basket and the Reference Goods and Services Basket, which includes food and basic complementary services such as gas, electricity, water and cooking fuel.

Prevention and social care, the main missions of the social workers

Now that we must attend to a group of social inequalities that have been accentuated at the country level, prevention and social care are necessary because they prevent the manifestation of expressions of this phenomenon, said Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, to members of Parliament on December 19.

During a rich debate by the commissions of Attention to Local Bodies of People's Power and Attention to Children, Youth and Women's Equality, it was said that the person who needs it must feel accompanied, cared for, in a historical context that has brought new challenges such as emigration, due to which some families leave behind and alone, vulnerable people.

There was also talk of the need to strengthen teams of social workers at the district level; that this cardinal link of prevention and social attention be trained; and this of putting the human being in safety, it was affirmed, becomes everyone's responsibility.

In order to revitalize the programs and projects that benefit the most disadvantaged in the communities, last September the Minister of MTSS announced that in the next two years the country will increase the number of these workers from 7,000 to 10,000.

As part of the State Budget for 2O24, 6,513 million pesos are earmarked for Social Assistance, a figure higher than that projected in the previous calendar; of which 5,913 million pesos will be allocated to local budgets.

The projected amount allows for the protection of 186,783 families and 339,754 beneficiaries in situations of economic vulnerability through temporary monetary benefits, social services and the delivery of basic necessities to improve their quality of life.

As stated by colleagues Angelica Paredes and Alina Perera, prevention and social care is the combination of all the living forces of a community; and as it has to do with the soul of the people, it goes beyond a welfare approach, it transcends a checkbook to become a human urgency that is central to Cuban socialism.

Hence the imperative to correct distortions also in the attention to vulnerable individuals and families, and that before any price increase or measure of economic and social impact they feel the support and protection of an entire country.