News
Revolutionizing Social Work Practice in the Turks and Caicos Islands
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY AND CHILDREN SERVICES
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands 18 June 2025 – Social Workers from the Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS), formerly the Department of Social Development and Welfare, Attend the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) Conference and Gain Valuable Work Exposure at Surrey County Council, United Kingdom.
A dedicated group of social workers, along with the Deputy Director from the Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS), recently attended the prestigious British Association of Social Workers (BASW) Conference 2025 under the theme “Shaping Our Future: Promoting Innovation, Inclusion and the Social Worker’s Voice for Change”, held in Manchester, United Kingdom. The event provided an invaluable platform for social workers to engage with experts, discuss key challenges, and explore innovative solutions in the field of family and child welfare. A highlight of the visit included a special engagement with Janet Darby, the United Kingdom’s Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing.
The conference, known for its focus on advancing social work practice and policy globally, allowed DFCS staff to collaborate with colleagues
from across the UK, exchange best practices, and gain insight into emerging trends in social work—especially in child protection and family support. The team attended a variety of sessions covering topics such as the role of social workers in disaster response, working with unaccompanied asylum seekers and making age assessment decisions, the use of artificial intelligence in social work, and community-oriented practices.
In addition to attending the conference, the team had the valuable opportunity to gain work exposure at the Safeguarding and Family Resilience Unit within Surrey County Council. This hands-on experience enabled DFCS social workers to observe and learn from Surrey’s best practices in safeguarding children and supporting families in crisis. The exposure focused on key areas including child exploitation (contextual safeguarding), foster care, family safeguarding conferencing, youth justice assessments, and the use of safeguarding assessment toolkits.
Surrey County Council’s social work teams provided a dynamic environment for the DFCS team to deepen their understanding of complex case management, inter-agency collaboration, and early help intervention strategies for families.
“We are thrilled to be a part of these significant opportunities,” said Aprit Thomas, Deputy Director of the Department of Family and Children Services. “Attending the BASW Conference and working alongside the talented professionals at Surrey County Council has been a crucial step in our ongoing effort to enhance the quality of care and services we provide to children and families in our community. We are committed to applying the knowledge and strategies we have gained to create a positive, lasting impact in the lives of those we serve.”
The Hon, Shaun D. Malcolm, Minister responsible for DFCS stated, “The significance of DFCS’s participation in the BASW Conference and
the Surrey County Council exposure visit cannot be overstated. As the Turks and Caicos Islands begins to revolutionize social work practice—dedicating a deeper and more concentrated workforce to address the increasingly complex social challenges among families and children—social workers must be equipped with modern, research-informed approaches and tools to effectively respond. Exposure to international standards, emerging technologies, and evidence-based practices is vital to strengthening the professional capacity and ethical resilience of our local workforce. Attending these events directly supports the professionalization and modernization of social work in the Turks and Caicos Islands, helping to align our territory’s services with global best practices while tailoring them to the unique cultural and community contexts of the Islands.”
The Department of Family and Children Services is dedicated to continuous professional development and ensuring that its social workers have access to the latest research, resources, and training. This collaboration with Surrey County Council will continue to strengthen DFCS’s ability to provide expert support to families and better equip social workers to navigate the complexities of their roles in child protection. The Department remains committed to supporting and protecting vulnerable families and children, while working collaboratively with a variety of local organizations, community groups, and agencies to provide comprehensive services and ensure the safety and well-being of children in our community. This exposure marks only the beginning of efforts to bring the Turks and Caicos Islands in alignment with global social work standards.
For more information and to follow our transition from the Department of Social Development and Welfare to the Department of Family and Children Services, please visit our website: www.gov.tc/dsd or email us at infodsd@gov.tc.
Contact Numbers:
Providenciales: 1-649-338-4008
Grand Turk: 1-649-338-2684
North & Middle Caicos: 1-649-338-6411/12
South Caicos: 1-649-338-6321
To report a safeguarding matter or concern to this department, kindly contact:
MASH: 1-649-338-4013
Email: mash@gov.tc | reportabusetci@gov.tc
Follow us:
Instagram: @socialdevelopment.welfare
Facebook: @department of social development, TCI
TCIG knew from April that fuel factor could surge almost 80%; Minister says $500 cost-of-living payment was part of Government’s response
PROVIDENCIALES — The Turks and Caicos Government knew months before July’s shocking electricity bills that consumers faced a potentially massive increase in the fuel factor.
Minister of Information Technology and Energy E. Jay Saunders revealed Friday that Pelican Energy warned his Ministry in April that generation fuel costs were projected to rise from $3.09 per gallon in May to $4.79 in June and July.
That translated into a projected fuel factor jump from about 17.5 cents to 31 cents per kilowatt-hour — an increase of almost 80%.
Saunders said he personally advised Cabinet of the projected increase and presented options for cushioning the impact.
He characterised Government’s $500 cost-of-living payment as its “initial response” to rising fuel costs, before a separate fuel-factor subsidy was approved.
Cabinet records show Government agreed on June 24 to provide funding to mitigate the fuel-factor impact, with the relief programme approved July 8.
Eligible residential customers — those averaging less than $1,500 monthly over the previous three bills — are capped at 22 cents per kWh from July through October.
Pelican confirmed Friday that Government’s contribution was already applied to July bills, meaning the bills now triggering widespread public outrage would have been even higher without the subsidy.
Saunders did not disclose the programme’s total cost.
His admission that Government knew since April, however, raises another question amid the backlash: why were consumers not directly warned by Government about the scale of the approaching increase?
NASSAU, Bahamas — More Bahamians are accessing HIV and sexually transmitted infection-related healthcare through National Health Insurance, a trend the NHI Authority says should be viewed positively.
NHIA stressed in an August 6 statement that its 2025 figures measure healthcare utilisation, not newly diagnosed infections. They include beneficiaries screened, treated, monitored or receiving follow-up care, including people diagnosed previously.
“Increased utilisation of these services should be viewed as a positive development,” NHIA said.
The Authority pointed to “greater enrolment and use of NHI, improved access to screening and testing, continued treatment and monitoring of existing conditions, and increased willingness to seek medical care.”
The development comes amid a mixed three-year HIV picture. New diagnoses rose from 130 in 2023 to 156 in 2024, before declining to 142 in 2025.
NHIA said increased utilisation demonstrates that more beneficiaries are accessing needed healthcare and actively managing their health, reinforcing the importance of screening, early diagnosis and continued treatment.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Americas has recorded 47,459 confirmed measles cases and 44 deaths in 2026, the region’s highest case count in 22 years, prompting the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to urge stronger vaccination, surveillance and rapid outbreak response.
As of July 18, cases were already more than triple the 15,011 recorded during all of 2025. Guatemala, Mexico, the United States and Peru
account for 95% of confirmed cases. Guatemala leads with 30,371 cases and 26 deaths, followed by Mexico with 12,255 cases and 17 deaths.
PAHO classifies the regional public health risk as very high, citing active outbreaks, immunity gaps, international travel and populations with inadequate vaccination coverage.
The organization says prevention starts with vaccination. Countries are being urged to achieve and maintain at least 95% coverage with two doses of measles-containing vaccine, particularly protecting children and under-vaccinated communities.
Measles spreads through the air when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a rash.
PAHO is urging health authorities to detect suspected cases early and respond rapidly to stop transmission. Unvaccinated and under-vaccinated people, young children and communities with limited healthcare access face increased risk of severe illness and death.
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