Night Shelter’s reintegration programme restructured
DPI, Guyana, Thursday, February 1, 2018
The reintegration and rehabilitation programme at the Night Shelter located at Arapiama Street, East La Penitence has been restructured. This was according to Director of Social Services, Wentworth Tanner.
Wentworth Tanner, Director of Social Services within the Ministry of Social Protection.
The Night Shelter, under the auspices of the Ministry of Social Protection, is a 24-hour refuge for those without a place to stay. It provides a roof over their heads, meals, and other amenities. It also offers skills training and other programmes to reintegrate those persons back into society.
Tanner explains that the ministry recognised that some of the competencies that were needed at the Night Shelter were limited, hence the need to restructure the programme. “…So that is something that we did identify and we are going to be placing the resources there so that we can facilitate the successful reintegration and rehabilitation of those persons at the shelter,” the Director explained.
The shelter also facilitates persons with chronic illnesses, and according to Tanner, the ministry is collaborating with the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) to ensure that those residents receive the requisite medical care.
The Night Shelter introduced its medical examination system to check for infectious diseases in 2017. The check-up informs the Night Shelter of the health condition of the resident and how best they can be treated if the need arises.
“…We have a very strict intake procedure. This is not to identify illness with the aim of stigmatising, but to ensure that we are not putting other persons at the institution at risk,” Tanner explained.
Other efforts to improve the Shelter included infrastructure upgrades, improvement to the security system with the installation of closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras and a newly built security hut, building staff capacity and providing more efficient medical interventions.
By: Synieka Thorne
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