Who We Are

“Helping, Empowering, Transforming Lives”

Overview

The Ministry of the People, Social Development and Family Services (MPSDFS) is a primary strategic partner with the Government to nurture a supportive society. The Ministry plays a critical lead role through supportive social policy, coordination of the social sector, and the delivery of essential high-quality social services.

As the core social sector Ministry, MPSDFS is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the Government's social and human development objectives. The Ministry is explicitly mandated to address the social challenges of poverty, social inequality, and social exclusion.

Our Vision

A dynamic, service-driven organisation that delivers premium social services towards the achievement of sustainable human and social development.

Our Mission

Positively transforming the lives of the people of Trinidad and Tobago through the provision of quality social services.

Vision 2030 Alignment

The Ministry's work is directly guided by Trinidad and Tobago's National Development Strategy 2016-2030 (Vision 2030), which advocates for attaining developed country status. In pursuit of this vision, the framework establishes five overarching pillars:

  • Putting People First: Nurturing Our Greatest Asset
  • Promoting Good Governance & Service Excellence
  • Improving Productivity Through Quality Infrastructure
  • Building Globally Competitive Business
  • Placing the Environment at the Centre of Development

Our Core Focus & Vulnerable Groups

Particular emphasis is placed on developing and executing tailored programmes and services that protect and assist vulnerable and marginalized groups in society, including:

Women & Children
Persons with Disabilities
The Elderly
The Poor & Indigent
Socially Displaced

Core Values

Our values guide how we work and interact with our citizenry daily:

Respect The valuing of people through courteous, caring, and unbiased interaction.
Equity Treating all persons with fairness and impartiality, conforming directly to their specific needs.
Integrative / Integrity Adherence to moral and ethical principles. Honesty in all that we do.
Compassion Having a sympathetic and empathic consciousness of our clients' needs with a desire to alleviate it.
Responsiveness Continuously anticipating and monitoring society’s ever-changing social issues.
Innovativeness Always looking for modern approaches and ways of performing better.
Commitment Working together, pledging to achieve excellence in the delivery of social services.
Inclusiveness Providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded.

Core Functions of the Ministry

  • Serving as a central coordinating body for the social sector regarding research, policy, and programme planning.
  • Facilitating networking, information, and data gathering/dissemination within the social sector and external agencies.
  • Developing systems, strategies, and programmes to realize positive attitudes and behavior in the citizenry.
  • Identifying gaps and making structural recommendations for drafting and amending legislation.
  • Fostering peace, harmony, and social justice through initiatives such as community mediation.
  • Delivering intuitive social assistance and social protection nets directly to citizens.

Strategic & Corporate Objectives

Poverty Reduction

To fundamentally reduce the incidence of poverty across our society through structural empowerment frameworks.

Persons with Disabilities

To increase the level of participation of persons with disabilities in society toward the realization of their full potential.

The Elderly

To sustain, support, and actively enhance the holistic well-being of all elderly persons.

Social Displacement

To strategically reduce the number of socially displaced persons through targeted rehabilitation and housing integrations.

Substance Abuse

To systematically reduce substance abuse across the national population via dynamic intervention frameworks.

Policy Monitoring & M&E

To develop, actively monitor, and consistently evaluate the policy framework for effective service delivery.

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