The increasing cost of living and social deprivation on the island of Saint Lucia have left a palpable taste of poverty and disillusionment that has increased the reliance of the nation’s poor and indigent on assistance from the Ministry or Department of Government responsible for social assistance. The agency under review, currently themed Department of Equity, Social Justice, Empowerment and Human Services (DoESJEHS), Saint Lucia, has been responsible for the poverty reduction, social inclusion and sustainable development mandates for several decades now
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Recognized as the nation’s single largest provider of social assistance, the Department provides a series of assistance packages that range from vision, general medical, academic, cash, psychosocial and disaster relief to its clients. The Community After-School Programme (CASP) is a key offering of the Department catered towards youth ages six (6) to sixteen (16). All services are fully established but are continuously adapted to meet the dynamic needs of the populace targeted for various interventions.
Currently, the DoESJEHS, has identified several inefficiencies in its execution of the CASP and this has in part been attributed to the lack of a general appreciation by Ministry Staff for projectized work and inadequate consultation with and subsequent disengagement of stakeholders throughout the various CASP processes. This Project Management Plan will strengthen organizational will; add order to various processes; improve the monitoring and reporting mechanism; provide for the timely engagement of stakeholders, and increase the overall efficiency of the CASP offering to the nation’s youth.
The Final Graduation Project general objective was to develop a Project Management Plan for the CASP in Saint Lucia in order to create a methodology for efficient cost planning, resource allocation and adequate stakeholder engagement. The specific objectives were:
- objective 1 - To construct a scope management plan to ensure that the requisite cost planning, resource allocation and stakeholder engagement is done during the project life;
- objective 2 - To create a cost management plan to ensure that a more sustainable cash flow and adequate funds are allocated to the CASP;
- objective 3 - To draft a time management plan to ensure that the planning for the CASP is done within the preapproved times;
- objective 4 - To create a stakeholder management plan to ensure the proper identification, categorization and participation of programme stakeholders; and
- objective 5 - To establish a communications management plan to guarantee the timely production, transferral, monitoring and management of programme information to CASP stakeholders.
The methodology for the research was a combination of all four (4) approaches, namely; analytical, descriptive, qualitative and quantitative methods. A combination of interviews, open ended surveys, literature review exercises, and strategy and process mapping approaches provided for the holistic review of existing processes and resources within the CASP which will be used in the subsequent development of the CASP project management plan. In instances where collated information was not readily available, datasets were physically perused and collated for analysis.
In conclusion, sound stakeholder engagement; efficient resource allocation and financial sustainability have long been identified as under exploited within the existing CASP structure. This primary observation is associated with the absence of projectized approaches to CASP processes and activities; unexplored funding opportunities; a partially inadequate quota of trained and specialized support staff; and a poorly organized staff complement.
The project’s scope of work was narrowed subsequent to a rigorous financial planning exercise and as such the establishment of a sales and marketing mechanism was proposed. Strict project timelines were also established to facilitate optimal stakeholder engagement.
It is recommended that the Ministry under study continue CASP improvement efforts through the development of its staff in project management approaches; provision of additional (biopsychosocial) support to CASP registrants; and provision of other supportive sessions for parent(s) or guardian(s) of CASP participants. Furthermore, it is proposed that the Ministry focuses on improvements to the existing CASP procurement processes; CASP project risk assessments and to the provision of high quality service delivery.
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http://www.uci.ac.cr/Biblioteca/Tesis/PFGMAP1683.pdf
