At the end of 2013, the government of Georgia (GoG) began a technical review
of its main social assistance program, Targeted Social Assistance (TSA). When
the current administration took office in 2012, it promised to pay more attention
to social issues in the country. At the same time, the GoG needed to be convinced
of the efficiency and transparency of the TSA as a last-resort social assistance
program and to present it to its constituency. The government was
concerned that too many poor people would not be covered by the TSA and,
conversely, that too many others would benefit from it, and therefore drain
resources. Members of the government were also worried that the inclusion in
the eligibility formula of subjective assessment of the social agents and of goods
that could be concealed left room for abuses of the system. During the first years
of government, the new administration took several steps to address these
concerns. First, the technical features of the TSA were reviewed. Second, the
administrative and business processes of program implementation were
improved. Third, new legislation was passed that modified the targeting formula
and benefits scheme of the TSA and adopted a new targeted program: the Child
Benefit Program (CBP). Finally, implementation started in June 2015, and compensation
measures were adopted in August 2015.