The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically demonstrated the importance of up to date and accurate information systems social assistance programs worldwide. The report by Valentina Barca and Madhumithar Habbar outlines key considerations and lessons for recertification of social assistance programs, and how to ensure up-to-date information from beneficiaries as well as the dynamic inclusion of these data into population targeting systems.
This monograph reviews the processes used by conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to recertify beneficiaries for services or classify them as ready to leave the programs. Most countries have attempted recertification to identify beneficiaries who are no longer poor and/or to increase the efficiency of the program when a new targeting mechanism is developed. Until recently however, in part because of high political costs, recertification has been slow and only sometimes followed by program exit. Brazil represents an exception, as all beneficiaries must be recertified every two years as a condition for remaining in the program, and municipalities receive financial incentives to support timely recertification. Many countries that have introduced income-generating initiatives to promote both wage employment and self-employment among CCT recipients have placed participants overcoming poverty high on the policy agenda. This report reviews the experiences of welfare-to-work reforms in high-income countries and extracts useful lessons for all countries seeking to recertify beneficiaries into a health or other social protection program. (Available in Spanish / Disponible en español)
See the comprehensive folder of this eLibrary for a full overview of this valuable resource. For recertification and data updating specifically, see chapters two and four, and particularly pages 113 - 115 (on reassessment) and pages 33-39 (on administrator versus on-demand systems).