SOCIAL WELFARE UNIT OBJECTIVE:

1.     To provide community –based rehabilitation programs in all communities.

2.     To provide professional social welfare services in the Metropolis to ensure that statutory responsibilities of the Department are carried out in the field of Justice Administration, Child Rights, promotion and Protection and Community Care.

3.     To promote access to Social services for the disadvantaged, vulnerable and marginalized groups.

4.     To co-ordinate and regulate specialized residential services for children, under- privileged youth, the disabled and destitute.

5.     To facilitate opportunities for NGO’s to develop social services in collaboration with the communities.

6.     To create awareness in the prevention and control of H.I.V/AIDS, population issues and family planning.

7.     To promote poverty alleviation and ensure income security among vulnerable, marginalized and disadvantaged groups.

8.     To promote social, economic and emotional stability in families.

9.     To promote poverty alleviation and ensure income security amongst vulnerable, marginalized and disadvantaged groups.

The objectives of the Department are achieved through three (3) core programmes namely:

1.     Justice Administration

2.     Child Rights Promotion and Protection

3.     Community Care

Under the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA), the Department of Social Welfare works to promote Human Development, Productivity and Employment. The Department performs the following core programmes/ activities under GSGDA;

a.     Child Development and Protection

b.       Provision of social services for the aged

c.      Assistance to Persons with Disabilities

d.     Poverty and Inequalities Education.

e.     Public awareness creation and sensitization.

f.      Social protection and support mechanism.

ACTIVITIES

A.   JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION

COURT WORK (DISTRICT COURT)

ü  Preparation of Social Inquiry Reports for courts --This request is mandatory in case of juvenile courts under section 354 of Act 30 and discretionary in adults’ courts.

ü  Liaison duties for the courts---- A Probation Officer assigned to a court.

ü  Supervision of offenders placed on probation vide sec 346(1) (c) of Act 30

ü  Supervision of juvenile’s offenders placed under supervision orders vide sec 349(2) (d) of Act 30

ü  Carrying out special procedures in respect of children at risk vide Sec 349(2)(d) and (4)

ü  Supervision of juveniles committed to a Fit Person while on probation order. Vide sec 348(1) of Act 30.

ü  Panel member at Family Tribunal and Juvenile Court.

B.  CHILD RIGHTS PROMOTION AND PREOTECTION

(i)  Child Welfare Services--- Assistance to Children in need of care and protection who

are exposed to physical and moral danger vide sec 16 of the children’s Act, 1998 Act (560).

(ii)  Registration and inspection of Day Care centers vide sec 115 - sec 120 of the children’s

Act.

(iii)  Assessment of Fit persons and provision of places of safety for children.

(iv)  Adoption--- Responsible for assessing the suitability of perspective adoptive parents

vide Sec 65-75 of the Children’s Act.

(v)  Service to deprived and neglected children.

(vi)     Inspection and registration of Residential Homes (Orphanages, shelters and

childrens’ Homes).

C.  COMMUNITY CARE

(i)               Community Based Rehabilitation for people with disabilities---- aimed at strengthening the relationship and promoting interaction between individuals with disability, their families and the social organization in which they live, namely their community.

(ii)     Registration of people with disabilities, assessment and linking them to the appropriate agencies.

(iii)  Assistance to the aged.

(iv)  Personal social welfare services

(v)  Hospital Welfare services.

(vi)  Street children, Child Survival and Development and Family Planning.

(vii)  Promotion of socio-economic and emotional stability in families.

(viii)  Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP)

( ix) Residential care for destitutes

(x)  NGO registration, supervision and monitoring

(xi)  Social and Public Education.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT UNIT

A.   OBJECTIVES OF THE UNIT

Within the broad objective of seeking an improvement in the socio-economic wellbeing of rural and deprived urban communities, the Unit pursues the following;

(i)              To facilitate the dissemination of development-related information to the people at the grassroots and relay feedback to the Assembly, thereby creating a two-way channel of communication between the Assembly and the people.

(ii)            To transfer sustainable and employable skills to the youth such as catering, beads making, dressmaking, home management, building and construction, electrical installation, etc to create wealth, reduce poverty and lessen rural-urban migration of the youth.

(iii)          To provide technical support and advise towards the construction of essential socio-economic infrastructure for needy communities through self-help and community-initiative.

(iv)          To expose women to available opportunities for resolution and other services, to Unit Committees and other Community-Based Organizations.

(v)            To provide counselling, guidance, conflict resolution and other services to Unit Committees and other Community-Based Organizations.

B.    FUNCTIONS OF THE UNIT

In line with its mandate, the Community Development Unit pursues the following functions;

(i)              Provides community education and mobilization

(ii)            Supports extension services to government and non-governmental organizations

(iii)          Offers employable and sustainable skills to the youth.

(iv)          Assists communities to undertake self-help initiated developmental projects.

(v)            Conducts mass and adult education campaigns and programs.

(vi)          Trains local artisans for community initiative projects.

(vii)        Mobilizes and trains voluntary leaders and Community-Based Organizations as change agents in the communities.

(viii)      Trains rural/vulnerable women in entrepreneurial and home management skills.

(ix)          Organizes community members for the collection of inputs for the preparation of budget and Medium-Term Development Plan.

(x)            Undertakes community entry processes for program initiation, monitoring and evaluation.

C.      PROGRAMMES/ACTIVITIES

(i)              Adult Education (Mass Meetings & Study Groups)

Adult Education programme is aimed at improving the total life of each individual in the community. The programme is geared towards certain specific goals or aspects of life, considering available resource opportunities of programmes of governmental and non-governmental agencies and the government’s own priorities, example; Water and Sanitation, HIV/AIDS, Family Planning, Teenage Pregnancy, Drug Abuse, Child Protection and Family Welfare, etc.

(ii)            Home Science Extension Programme

This programme entails the art and science of utilizing skills, knowledge, human and material resources in planning and implementing actions to improve home and family life. The programme aims at training, stimulating and providing women to take home and economic viable projects or income-generating activities seriously to improve their living standards. For example, to educate women on home management, nutrition, childcare, family planning, preparation of soap (liquid and cake), pastries, etc.