The Government is pushing a reform initiative to assist people who are experiencing financial hardship.

“Legislation is currently being worked on to support the delivery of this benefit programme that would afford those persons who experience financial hardship at any point the opportunity to apply for a one-off, short-term relief benefit,“ Tinée Furbert, the Minister of Youth, Social Development and Seniors, said at a press conference yesterday.

At the press conference, Ms Furbert announced plans for ministry programmes and initiatives that will be funded by the Budget.

She said the financial reform measure is among Government initiatives that “provide social protection systems that guarantee all families, regardless of their current economic standing, access to resources to meet their basic needs.“

Funding will come from the Department of Financial Assistance operational budget of $54.1 million.

She said funds have been allocated to support the work of the National Youth Policy initiative, which falls under the Office of Youth Affairs. In July, the agency will undertake a “major” youth conference, which will focus primarily on antisocial behaviours of the island’s youth.

Under the policy, which is a five-year plan that addresses youth empowerment, the Government has to date paid out a total of $80,000 in grants to 14 charities and organisations that work to ensure that young people are safe and protected from harm.

Ms Furbert said the ministry provides $100,000 in grants “to youth-focused organisations” under the initiative. The sum is split between approximately eight to ten youth-focused charities, she explained.

"We actually stipulate what is it that we would like, from a government perspective, to see as far as utilisation and goals we would like for them to be focused on.”

Ms Furbert said this year the Government is working on strengthening the Litigation Guardian programme and noted provisions in the Children’s Act for children to have access to litigation guardians.

“When the legislation was initially put in place, it provided for a panel of litigation guardians. But we did not have the structuring framework to have ligation guardians who were trained,” she said.

Ms Furbert said, as part of the strengthening process, training has been provided for litigation guardians. In addition, she said a framework was crafted “for what we call a standard of practice that litigation guardians would have to follow.”

In addition, she said funding of the process has been boosted “to make sure that it was more streamlined” and to ensure as many children as possible have access to that litigation guardian service when needed.

Ms Furbert said the Budget this year makes provision for support of the dementia care pilot project, which the government introduced last November. At the start of the project, she said an estimated 3,000 people on the island suffered from the disease.

She said on Monday that $120,000 in additional funding has been set aside in the Budget for the continued implementation of the structured, decision-making tool that was purchased last year, “to support and protect Bermuda’s senior citizens and persons with disabilities who are at risk of abuse or self neglect.”

Ms Furbert said the continued implementation of the framework will assist officers to make “consistent decisions and identify immediate safety concerns specific to clients.”

This year, $150,000 has been set aside from the Department of Child and Family Services operational budget of $19.7 million for a new child-safeguarding programme.

The programme will facilitate children’s participation in assessments and counselling as support services.

Ms Furbert said $350,000 will be spent to enhance the delivery of the Independent Living Programme for young people who are ageing out of government’s care.

She said that currently seven young people are enrolled in the community-based programme, which began in 2023.

Young people, age seventeen and a half years, are offered housing and life-coaching skills under the initiative.

Ms Furbert said the programme “steers the youth to other resources, where they obtain educational, vocational and life-skills coaching that support independent living as they transition into adulthood.”

Other key initiatives the Ministry of Youth, Social Development and Seniors will address this year through funding in the Budget include the completion of a National Senior Strategy and the execution of priorities in plans to end homelessness.