Probation officers and social workers will soon be attending sign language classes in an effort to assist them to better communicate with and help persons with disabilities, according to Minister of Human Services & Social Security, Priya Manickchand.
Manickchand was speaking at the opening of last Friday’s workshop for probation and child protection officers at the National Library. The minister said that she wants her ministry to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy the same services as other citizens, and she is moving to create an environment to allow this to happen.
She said while she has not found any of her employees to be disinterested in the rights of persons with disabilities, she has not seen efforts being made to take the services to those persons who are disabled and unable to access the ministry’s services.
“They may not be able to come in to us and so we have to take it to them,” the minister told workers. She disclosed that at present they are creating a registry which would better assist them in taking their services to disabled persons. But she said even in this process she is not satisfied that all is being done to register all the persons who need to be registered.
Meanwhile, one of the commissioners on the National Commission on Disability, Cecil Morris, who is visually impaired, told of his experience of having to visit the ministry to receive his public assistance book and waiting for more than three hours to be attended to. And after the three hours he was told he had to climb another flight of stairs to visit another officer for assistance and upon reaching that destination he learnt that he could have been dealt with by the original officer.
The man also told the minister that her ministry is not very accessible to persons with disabilities. He told the workers that he understands that there is a limited number of them to deal with the public but if they are courteous to persons when they are waiting things could be better. According to him a few kind words would make a difference.
Another commissioner, Evelyn Hamilton, who also works at the Ministry of Education, says she sees the workshop as one which would improve the relationship between the ministry and persons living with disabilities.
She stated that when the Disability Act is passed in parliament the collaboration between her commission and the ministry would be crucial as the commission cannot ensure compliance with the Act, but the ministry can. She told the workers that persons with disabilities have rights and can contribute to society and they have to believe this when dealing with those persons.
The workshop was aimed at communicating the appropriate strategies to ensure the probation and social services officers address the needs of persons with disabilities.
It is hoped that the joint effort would foster greater understanding and collaboration among the officers regarding their interaction with persons with disabilities and improve the partnership between the two entities.
