The president of the Puerto Rico Social Work Professionals Association (CPTSPR), Lydael Vega Otero, rejected the government’s intention to contract private organizations from outside Puerto Rico to provide social services on the island. She called for government resources to go toward better salaries, working conditions and operations at public agencies. Vega Otero asked what message is sent to young people and professionals when the government looks for private organizations abroad instead of trusting Puerto Rico’s own talent and agencies.
She said turning to foreign organizations without fixing public institutions’ shortcomings could worsen recruitment and retention of social workers. According to the association, agencies face a lack of resources, poor working conditions and low pay, and it recently reported payroll delays it attributed to problems implementing new technology platforms. The group also questioned the weakening of Puerto Rico Department of the Family initiatives tied to Title IV funds, which gave financial support to bachelor’s and master’s social work students to prepare them to work at the agency.
Vega Otero said those programs helped train and develop needed staff. The CPTSPR says Puerto Rico has more than 7,000 licensed professionals and 14 academic social work programs, enough to build strategies to strengthen services. It warned that outside contracting and privatization could further weaken the public system, and asked the government to halt efforts to hire foreign private entities and open dialogue with professionals, academic institutions and agency employees.