DSWD to Extend Age Coverage of 4Ps Beneficiaries

The year 2014 is a new beginning for more than 140,000 Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries especially for those between ages 15-18 years old who aspires for a college degree or a better job.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development will implement the extension age coverage to 15-18 years old with a validation process that will kick off this April 2014.

During the validation, parents of children beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilya program are advised to prepare their child’s birth certificate and certificate of enrollment to facilitate registration.

Currently, the Pantawid Pamilya program provides health and education grants only allows children beneficiaries aged 0-14.

With the extension program, the age limit is being extended to 18 years old.

One of the reasons for this move is to help children beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilya finish high school and get at least a 2 year course in college, giving them a greater chance for a better employment and become competitive in the professional world.

It also compliments the Department of Education’s K-12 program.

The expansion program will still require an 85% attendance in school but will receive a higher educational grant which covers 15-18 years old beneficiaries.

For those households with no children enrolled in the elementary will no longer receive the P500 monthly cash grant for health.

The selection of children aged 3-18 for education monitoring will be based on the existing policy which provides that “the household shall select from among the children whom to monitor, replace and additional children beneficiaries to complete the three children limit per household, provided that these children are included in the household roster”.

The existing children beneficiaries 0-14 will still be monitored and are required to abide by the program’s set conditions, which, among others, includes visiting the health center and attending Family Development Session at least once a month and obtain an 85% school attendance to continually receive their cash grant of P500/month for health and P300/month for education.

Image Credit: www.dswd.gov.ph