NAU goes to districts to reach clients
(CNS): The Needs Assessment Unit has launched a pilot project in which NAU officers go out into the community to meet with those who most need help. The ‘NAU in Our District’ initiative assisted 41 vulnerable people in its first six sessions in district public libraries and civic centres. Officials said most of the new clients were elderly people without transport.
Explaining the programme, NAU Director Tamara Hurlston said that two-person teams completed six three to four-hour shifts, working out of East End Civic Centre and the North Side, Bodden Town and West Bay Public Libraries. Officers assisted clients in filling out assessment forms and processing queries.
The pilot aims to reduce the need for seniors and those with health or mobility problems to travel to the NAU’s main office in George Town, as well as reducing any risk of COVID-19 infection while accessing NAU services. It will also help NAU staff better understand the demands of clients in the districts.
“We are happy to be able to provide access within the districts to persons who may have transportation limitations,” Hurlston said. “Customers who have given feedback have said they appreciated the convenience of having the NAU in their district. Most cited lack of transportation as the specific reason why they had accessed the trial service.”
Officials said the need ranged from one person looking for health insurance for her grandparents and great grandparents to those who have lost their jobs in tourism needing CINICO cover. Most of those seeking help were aged 60 years or more.
The pilot programme will run for six months, to the end of June, and Hurlston said that her team will routinely evaluate the data.
See the ‘NAU in Our District’ schedule below. Anyone who needs assistance with their NAU application, or any other NAU-type issue, is advised to attend and bring supporting documentation along with them.
| East End Civic Centre 9 am – 2 pm | Friday, 5 February Friday, 5 March Friday, 9 April Friday, 7 May Friday, 4 June |
| North Side Public Library 10 am – 1 pm | Friday, 12 February Friday, 12 March Friday, 16 April Friday, 14 May Friday, 11 June |
| Bodden Town Public Library 10 am – 1 pm | Friday, 19 February Friday, 19 March Friday, 23 April Friday, 21 May Friday, 18 June |
| West Bay Public Library 10 am – 1 pm | Friday, 26 February Friday, 26 March Friday, 30 April Friday, 28 May Friday, 25 June |
Category: Community, Local News
One issue is with slum landlords.
Many private landlords don’t want NAU tenants due to issues with payment, plus the risk of their property becoming damaged through the less respectful of NAU clientele.
This has meant that some less scrupulous landlords, are renting out substandard dwellings at top rates. Creaming off vast profits from the govt while providing miserable accommodation to some of the most vulnerable members of society.
What I would like to see is that NAU does more or in some cases start doing the following:
1. Greater diligence as there are many persons who are ‘double-dipping’ and playing off that they are in desperation;
2. Inspect these rental places that they are so quick to sign off on allowing landlords to rip the government off as tenants are not always getting value for the money;
3. Check first to see if any of the persons coming to the NAU for first-time assistance or are currently getting assistance have taken a portion of their pension. If such persons have taken a portion of their pension, then have them provide evidence of their spending before even considering assisting them/continuing that assistance. E.g. I know of one person who has gone to NAU to get help to buy appliances yet he bought a boat with his pension money.
Great points….especially #3! NAU has always allowed itself to be used and abused by persons that shouldn’t be getting benefits!
Government is going to go broke looking out for people that should be looking out for themselves and paying people that stayed on island when borders closed knowing full well they’d have no income. It should have been mandatory for work permit holders in tourism to go home.
NAU will definitely offer support and full assistance to all those Caymanians in need in the various districts.
Unfortunately, all too often we have all heard that priority is given to the “paper”, Caymanians.
When we have born Caymanians that are rightfully entitled and doesn’t have another country to call “home”, in which they can return.
They are still waiting for assistance and suffering for years!!
Why is that? A suggestion would first be by reviewing the origin of the staff.
If you are Caymanian, you are Caymanian. You can’t pick who isn’t.
True. But NAU should distinguish, shouldn’t they?
How do you know they don’t?
Hi Tina,
You realize that if there are to be any laws in these islands then “paper” is not a thing nor is “born” or “generational”.
Unfortunately regardless of which adjective you choose to apply to Caymanian, the ones who get looked after generally have some sort of connection to a politician or someone in the Civil Service. For those people it works really well, perhaps too well in some cases. For the unconnected others not so much.
Sincerely,
Driftwood
Tina,
Firstly there is no such person as a paper Caymanian. If you hold a British passport as many of your fellow Caymanians do, you will never be called a paper Brit.You will be a British citizen with the right to stand for election as an M.P. in the U.K.should you desire to move there, and wish to.
Secondly what you have “heard” is not fact unless you are given names- why would Caymanians on the NAU staff prioritise people of expat origin over true Caymanians?.As for waiting for assistance and suffering for years what about the thousands of Caymanians receiving cash stipends during Covid?.
Finally your last comment, do you mean the origin of the applicant?
Please stop it with the racism. People need to work together for the betterment of everyone. Comments like this are unwanted and unhelpful to the community at large. If this is a genuine grievance with evidence then take it to the authorities to be investigated. If it’s just trying to cause trouble and resentment, please stop. Think instead about how you can use your free time to help people. Why not volunteer at these community sessions and help people with their forms and questions?
Racism? There is a limit to how far you can stretch that word.
Good idea, but question the timing with election upcoming so soon.
Presumably most of these same elderly and folks with limited mobility have existed since the inception of DCFS, NAU etc.
The “powers-to-be” over the years obviously know this …and yet here we are waiting to announce it with less than four months to election.
This outreach service is much needed. Too bad government does not have the foresight to put an office in each district on a permanent basis. . . . guess that would be beyond their ability.
WOW…… NAU JUST THINKING OF THIS TO DO?
Another reason for them to stop and by a Tortuga Patty.
Finally some good news about NAU.
Go to Cayman Brac and sort out the mess there.
Exactly. I know of a client who has a home on Cayman Brac yet gov pays $1000 per month for them to live on GC….
Agree on that one. Many who work on the Brac roadside cleanup on a regular basis are also receiving benefits from NAU – I trust that these persons are claiming this income on there application/renewal form, hahaha.
Shall we name names and how they are associated/related to certain civil servants and politicians? NAU is severely abused on Brac – do a thorough audit, but our two MP’s dont have the moral courage to do something like that to their voters.
Handout season kicking in to high gear.
This is a great effort and should be fully supported – but do we know that all the recipients of assistance from NAU are Caymanian?
Because Mac attack gave them status….
No, that makes them Caymanian. What about people who do not have status?
Prove it
How do you prove a negative? Anyway, NAU admits that large numbers of beneficiaries of their largesse are not Caymanian. Legitimate questions can and should be asked as to how and why such poverty continues to be imported and maintained at the expense of the Caymanian people – especially given our border controls are supposed to prevent persons who cannot support themselves from coming and settling here. How long can we afford this for?
The minute a non-Caymanian requests aid from the Government, should be the minute they have to go home.
Make their permit holder pay for their immediate repatriation and don’t give that business new permits.
Even if Government has to end up buying the airline ticket, that is still far cheaper for Government than to add them to the overburdened handout list. We have enough Caymanians sucking the system dry and don’t need to import people to “help”.
We do not know that. Indeed, we know that many recipients are not Caymanian. That of course means laws are not being followed, but hey, who gives a damn about laws around here?
Well, the RCIPS for one don’t care. Especially when it comes to traffic. The couldn’t even mange to direct traffic to flow when the car was on fire by Grand Harbour at Ruch hour yesterday. Utterly useless bunch.