Facing a steadily growing backlog of cases and rising strain on frontline personnel, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ministry of Social Transformation has formally submitted a request to Cabinet for approval to add five new counsellor positions to its roster in the upcoming budget year, the department’s Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant confirmed during a post-Cabinet media briefing on Friday.
Beyond expanding direct counselling services for vulnerable community members seeking support from the ministry, the request also addresses a critical, underdiscussed need: mental health support for the frontline staff who already work daily with people navigating acute life hardship. Merchant emphasized that frontline employees, including the current team of in-house counsellors, carry an enormous emotional burden from their constant work with people in crisis, and they also require dedicated access to mental health support to sustain their critical work.
“Because of the sheer volume of cases they are managing day in and day out, they also need a supportive, listening ear,” Merchant explained to reporters. He clarified that the new roles are designed to meet demand on two fronts: expanding services for the public accessing the division’s support programs, and protecting the well-being of the professionals who deliver that care. “Counsellors themselves need people they can talk to,” he added, noting that this internal support is directly tied to retaining staff well-being and enabling the team to deliver effective, high-quality services to the community.
Merchant stressed that the proposal is still pending official approval from Cabinet for the next fiscal cycle, and no authorization for recruitment has been issued at this stage. The update on the staffing request was shared alongside broader Cabinet discussions on two key policy priorities for Antigua and Barbuda: strengthening national child protection frameworks and advancing new measures to reduce violent crime across the twin-island nation.
As of Friday’s briefing, no additional details have been released, including the current size of the division’s counselling staff, the total number of active cases the team currently manages, the projected annual cost of the five new positions, nor confirmation of whether the dedicated staff-support counsellor role is included in the five requested posts.