Bill 116.

Summary.

The bill proposes establishing the National Network of Residential Homes and Shelters (Red Nacional de Casas Hogares y/o Albergues) as a state response that would provide temporary accommodation and food, facilitate medical, physical, and psychological assistance, and offer options for social reintegration. Its intended beneficiaries are people facing risk or danger, extreme poverty, and groups requiring priority attention. The Network would include shelters administered by the Ministry of Social Development (Ministerio de Desarrollo Social), autonomous entities, and municipalities within the Republic of Panama (República de Panamá).

Residential homes and shelters would be classified as type A when they serve people facing an imminent threat to their life or physical or mental health; type B when they protect people with no economic means of subsistence; and type C when they assist groups whose economic and social deprivation calls for immediate support. Qualified staff of Mides would conduct a socioeconomic assessment to determine whether accommodation is free or what amount a resident must pay. Residents could contribute to the operation of a home or shelter according to their abilities and the programs in which they participate.

Every new state administered residential home or shelter registered with Mides would join the Network. New facilities would be established on the basis of studies by trained Mides staff of the needs of different sectors of the country. The Executive Branch (Órgano Ejecutivo), through the Ministry of Social Development, would issue general regulations governing the establishment and operation of Network shelters and shelters run by nonstate entities. Those regulations would also propose the basic administrative structure for Network shelters.

The Executive Branch, acting through the Ministry of Social Development, could oversee all shelters, whether state or nonstate run, and carry out inspections to safeguard residents’ safety and well being. Mides would include annual budget appropriations to support, in whole or in part, shelters already in the Network and those that join later. It could also make agreements with nonstate entities to establish or administer shelters and contribute to their operation. Mides would maintain a register of Network shelters and all shelters run by nonstate entities.

Under a transitional provision, all existing shelters would become part of the Network. Within the first six months after the proposed law takes effect, Mides would determine whether new shelters are needed. In the immediately following month, it would adopt an Action Plan covering the expansion of existing shelters or the construction or opening of additional facilities as needed. The bill provides for effect upon promulgation. The institutions concerned include the Ministry of Social Development, Mides, the Executive Branch, autonomous entities, and municipalities; its provisions also concern state and nonstate shelter operators, residents, and the social groups the facilities would serve.