Enrile, Cagayan – With DSWD Secretary Rolando Joselito Bautista, members of the Executive Committee, Regional Directors and fellow field offices watching through a virtual loop, the field office’s new center constructions and renovated facilities were launched through a simple ribbon cutting ceremony held at the Cagayan Valley Regional Rehabilitation Center for Youth (CV-RRCY) here yesterday.

The ceremony was part of the simultaneous launching of new and renovated facilities of DSWD centers in different regions throughout the country, in a move to address the growing need and increasing demand for such facilities in recent years.

In 2018, the DSWD downloaded more than P58 million to the field office for new construction and repair of the centers’ facilities. The amount was an opportunity to make the centers more functional and amenable to the needs of the centers’ clients and staff.

This after the completion of the preparation of plans and program of works for infrastructure projects which became the basis for the downloading of the said funds.

The field office has three (3) centers catering to susceptible individuals; the Reception and Study Center for Children (RSCC) provides temporary care and shelter to abandoned, neglected and abused children, the Regional Haven for Women and Girls (RHWG) gives temporary care to vulnerable, disadvantaged and abused women and the CV-RRCY caters to children in conflict with the law (CICL) for rehabilitation of their emotional, psychosocial and psychological well-being.

The RSCC, which was inaugurated in May 1991, is the oldest facility of the three, followed by the RHWG in May 1997 and finally, the CV-RRCY in April 2010.

Majority of the new constructions in the centers focused on adding more bed capacity as a response to the possible increase in the number of clients that may be referred to the centers and the increase in the number of staff to cater to the clients as a result.

Centers’ clients and staff meanwhile are elated because of the new facilities that they are able to use. Old facilities were either renovated or replaced with newer ones and new constructions to add to the existing ones led to a more holistic working environment in the centers.

Staff of the field office centers recognize the importance that these facilities will have as now they can more easily conduct their roles and responsibilities to be able to contribute more to the goals of the agency as a whole.

The field office is also now in the midst of preparing its plans for additional centers’ projects for submission to the central office as basis for funding in year 2021. ###