Year started

2001

Status

Active

Targeting

- target population

Children aged 0–19 (or until they graduate from secondary school)
Poor people aged 60 and older
Pregnant or lactating women up to 6 months after delivery
People with disabilities
Poor adults

- targeting method

Proxy means testing

- coverage

300,000 people or 12% of total population (September 2008); of that total, 70% are children, 11% are disabled, and 19% are elderly or are pregnant and/or lactating mothers

- incidence

59.6% to poorest quintile (2004)

Benefits

- benefit structure

J$650 per month per beneficiary (established limit of 20 beneficiaries in any one family).Beginning Dec 2008 a new differentiated scheme of benefits will be in place: boys receive 10% higher benefits than girls at all grades; lower secondary receive 50% higher than base benefit; upper secondary 75% higher than base benefit; all other categories receive the base benefit of $650

- payee

Family representatives or their agents

- payment method

Checks through the postal service and prepaid cash cards

- payment frequency

Bimonthly

- duration

As long as eligible; recertification after 4 years

- additional benefits

Secondary level students have free access to the government’s textbook rental scheme
Free lunch in schools where there is a government-run school feeding program
Free health care for beneficiaries

Conditions

- health

4 health center visits per year for children aged 0–11 months (in keeping with the immunization schedule stipulated by the Ministry of Health)
2 health center visits per year, at 6-month intervals, for children aged 12–59 months
Health center visits every 2 months for pregnant women, and at 6 weeks and 2 months postpartum for lactating women
2 health center visits per year, at 6-month intervals, for people with disabilities, elderly people, and other adult beneficiaries

- education

Regular school attendance of at least 85% for children aged 6–19

- other

None

- verification of compliance–method

MLSS staff gives schools and health providers lists of the PATH participants and forms for the providers to report school attendance/ health care data for the previous 2 months. MLSS staff picks up the completed forms from the providers. Data are entered into PATH’s management information system and used as the basis for compliance and payment determinations.

- verification of compliance–frequency

Every 2 months, MLSS staff provides the lists of PATH beneficiaries to service providers; 4 weeks later, they return to collect the completed forms

- compliance statistics

88% of girls and 84% of boys complied with education requirements
88% of children aged 0–11 months complied with health requirements (May–June 2007)

Program Administration

- institutional arrangement

MLSS

- program costs

Budget: J$1.7 billion (approximately $245 million) during FY2007/08
Administrative costs: 13% of program’s overall budget

Country Context

General

- population (total)

2.7 million (2006)

- GDP per capita (PPP, 2005 $)

$7,333 (2006)

- poverty headcount ratio at $2/day

14.4% (2004)

Education

- net enrollment in primary level

90.3% total (2005)
90.4% for girls, 90.1% for boys

- net enrollment in secondary level

78.3% total (2005)
80.1% for girls, 76.5% for boys

Health

- prevalence of child malnutrition (stunting)

4.5% (2004)

- births attended by skilled health staff

96/7% (2005)