The Department of Social Welfare is a government institution with the mandate to promote and protect the rights and wellbeing of the poor, the vulnerable, the marginalised and the excluded through the provision of social welfare and social development services designed to ensure equity, social justice and integration into mainstream development.  The services of the Department are backed by various laws, policies and programmes including the Children’s Act, 1998 Act 560; the Children’s Amendment Act, 2016 Act 937; the Human Trafficking Act, 2005 Act 694; the Human Trafficking Amendment Act, 2009 Act 784;  the 2015 Human Trafficking Legislative Instrument 2219 (L. I. 2219); the Domestic Violence Act, 2007 Act 732 and it’s corresponding L.I. 2237, (2016); the Child and Family Welfare Policy, the Juvenile Justice Act, 2003 Act 653, the Justice for Children Policy, and the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2006 Act 715 among others. The Department’s services are categorized into three core programmes – Child Rights Promotion and Protection, Community Care and Justice Administration programmes.

Services provided by the Department includes the following:

• Receipt and management of cases of violence and abuse of the vulnerable, especially children, women, the aged and Persons with Disability,
• Provision and facilitation of adoption services,
• Foster care services for vulnerable children,
• Facilitation of the registration and monitoring of Residential Homes for Children (children’s Homes and orphanages),
• Facilitation of the registration and monitoring of Daycare Centres (0-3 years) to ensure adherence to national standards
• Facilitation and monitoring of LEAP and other services to the vulnerable
• Provision of Social Welfare services to the sick (Hospital Welfare Services)
• Provision of counselling and other psychosocial support services and
• Linking the vulnerable to community support services

The Department is decentralized at both the Regional and District levels. The Districts offices are mandated to undertake direct implementation of social welfare and social developments services. The Regional office of the Department undertakes monitoring, supervision and technical backstopping activities for the District and Municipal offices in the 18 MMDAs in the Volta Region.

In 2021, the Department as mandated undertook a number of activities in line with its function.