Department of Social Welfare Undertook a Joint Monitoring of Residential Homes for Children (RHCs) with the National Office
The Regional Department of Social Welfare together with the National office on the 9th and 10th February 2022 undertook a joint monitoring of Residential Homes for Children (RHCs) in Ho Municipality and Afadzato South District. The monitoring was in fulfilment of the Department’s mandate of ensuring social protection of the vulnerable including children in residential homes.
The areas of focus during the exercise were; Case Management and Documentation on children in Residential Homes (including data entry into the Social Welfare Information Management System (SWIMS)), and Evaluation of Adherence to Recommendations during Previous Monitoring Activities.
Furthermore, the monitoring exercise was to facilitate the closure of unlicensed and substandard Residential Homes for Children and which would lead to the reintegration as well as placement of these children into family-based care services.
The National Director of the Department of Social Welfare, Rev. Dr. Comfort Asare who led the team from Accra, in her interactions with officers of the Munipality and Districts visited, emphasized the importance of keeping good and accurate records. The RHCs visited were Remar in the Ho Municipality; Volta Home, and Eugemot Foundation in the Afadzato South District.
The team also interacted with the Coordinating Director of the Afadzato South District and discussed issues relating to the need for closure of substandard RHCs and the promotion of other alternative care services such as foster care.
The Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare, Mrs. Stella Mawutor Agbezuhlor together with a member of the team from the National Office also interacted with the Acting Regional Coordinating Director, Mr. Prosper Afenyo, and a team of officers of the Volta Regional Co-ordinating Council (VRCC) and briefed on the implementation of the Care Reform Initiative (CRI) Programme and the need for promotion of family-based care for vulnerable children in the Region. The issue of shelters for each District as an assessment tool for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) came up for discussion with a proposal for further consideration.
