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 News from Around the Americas | April 2007 
Mayor Bloomberg to Study "Conditional Cash" Program
 Rita Nissan - ny1.com
| | New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (C) arrives for the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington April 21, 2007. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst) |
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is in Mexico today to research an anti-poverty program he plans to introduce at home this fall. The program gives money to poor families if they reach certain goals set by the government. NY1s Rita Nissan filed the following report from Mexico.
In the peaceful village of Tepoztlan, 60 miles south of Mexico City, police direct traffic, children roam the streets, and once every two months a community center becomes flooded with women trying to support their families.
They receive cash from the government in a federal program designed to root out poverty. Called Oportunidades, women because they're considered more financially responsible than men get money for completing tasks, like making sure their children attend school, get regular health check-ups and follow nutritional guidelines.
The women are also required to take classes, like one at the local health center on how to deal with a heat wave.
For women who meet the requirements, it can mean enough money to give their children a better future. Edith Tecuapa Garcia has five kids. On this day she picked up 1,780 pesos, about $178. She says this helps her pay the tuition for her children's school, their uniforms and shoes. Without it she says she might be forced to have them stay at home.
There is extreme poverty here and in all of Mexico. One in four people take part in Oportunidades, which has been in place for a decade.
The goal of the program is not to help people with day to day survival, but to change behavior and end the cycle of poverty.
That's an exciting prospect for officials in New York; Mayor Michael Bloomberg is taking a chance on it. He will start a pilot program in the fall, using private money to head off any controversy.
Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs will oversee it. She was in Tepoztlan Monday to learn more. She points to the health center as proof that the program works.
The families eventually develop behaviors of coming in more often, of intervening better with their children, she said. So while it starts out as a mandate, it gradually helps to build those stronger preventive health behaviors.
The mayor will also get a first hand look. He'll be in Mexico Tuesday to see how what's being done here can make a difference back home. |
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