Francisco Rabauliman
THERE will be no reduction in Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for the rest of fiscal year 2024, Department of Community and Cultural Affairs Secretary Francisco Rabauliman said.
“This is the good news that I can share with the community,” he told reporters at a press conference last week.
Earlier, NAP, a division of DCCA, announced that it was implementing a 20% benefit level reduction for Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and the Northern Islands for the period beginning Jan. 1, 2024 through Sept. 30, 2024.
Rabauliman said the “U.S. Department of Agriculture-Food and Nutrition Service came back to us and said you can go ahead and continue the same level of funding for January benefits. Even though we informed the community that there would be a reduction, it did not happen. That same level of benefits continued from month to month, from January, February, March and now April.”
He added, “Recently, FNS informed us there’s not going to be any decrease of benefits all the way to the end of the fiscal year.”
As DCCA secretary, Rabauliman oversees the operation and administration of 11 divisions and programs: NAP, Chamorro-Carolinian Language Policy Commission, Child Care Development Fund, Child Care Licensing Program, the Commonwealth Council for Arts and Culture, the Commonwealth Respite Service Program, the Division of Youth Services, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, the Historic Preservation Office, the Office on Aging, and the Sports and Recreation Program.
Rabauliman’s nomination as DCCA secretary was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in February.
“I don’t take this position lightly. It is a very a very challenging position,” he said.
“I am willing and able to take it on, particularly because this is where my training is — my major was in behavioral science. A lot of DCCA programs deal with human services and are meant to help and provide assistance to the community,” he added.
