SOCIAL WELFARE & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Core Mandate

Child Rights, Promotion and Protection, Community Care and Justice Administration.

Services Provided

The Department Provides Social Coordinates and Promotes social Development Programs and Polices to improve the welfare of people, groups and communities by:

• Facilitate the Registration and Renewal of Early Childhood development /Day Care Centres, Supervise and monitor their activities.
• Identify and Register Persons with Disabilities (PWD’s) facilitate Livelihood Empowerment Programmes and support them with the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) – PWD
• Facilitate the Registration and Renewal of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the Districts and Monitor their Activities.
• Train Community Groups, Women and Youth in Employable/Sustainable Skills to Improve their Standard of Living.
• Undertake child protection activities, Provide Shelter, Care and Protection for Missing, Stranded, Abandoned but found Children, Investigate, trace and Reunite them with their Family.
• Support Family and Individual in handling Child Maintenance Cases, Child Abuse, Custody / Access, Family Reconciliation and General Child Welfare.
• Facilitate, Supervise and Monitor the Implementation of Social Intervention Programmes e.g. School Feeding Programme and Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) among others.
• Undertake and Collaborate with Agencies, Departments, and organisations to Sensitize individuals and Community members on Socio- Economic, Health and other social issues.
• Organise Literacy and Adult Education Programmes for Community Members.
• Offer Psycho-Social Counselling to affected person with HIV–AIDS
• Co-ordinate and regulate specialised residential homes, services for children, disabled, aged, vulnerable and  the under privileged in society.

LIST OF SOCIAL SERVICES

1. Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) Programme

The LEAP programme is a government intention programme to mitigate poverty in our communities. The programme is geared towards the provision of cash grant to meet the most basic needs of the poorest families within the poorest communities in various communities.

The programme is also design to help improve the health and educational status of children in the poorest families.

Also, the programme aims at helping the poorest families to out of their poverty situation.

Who Qualifies to receive LEAP?

1. Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC)

• Single or double orphans
• Disable children
• Chronically ill children (Children with prolonged chronic disease)
• Children in a family with the head being a child him/herself (Under 18 years)
• Children in a family with a head who is chronically ill
• Children in a family with parents whose whereabout are unknown

1. The Aged

• A person who is 65 years and above without productive capacity
• Severely Disabled
• A person with profound disability

2. Registration and Support to Persons with Disabilities (PWDs)

The Department is mandated to facilitate the provision of welfare interventions of persons living with disabilities in the municipality. This responsibility is ensured by registering PWDs, sensitizing them, empowering them, monitoring their economic activities to ensure improvement in their standard of living.

Furthermore, they are entitled to or allocated a percentage of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF).

This fund is managed by the MMDAs in collaboration with relevant stakeholders such as National Council on persons with disability (NCPD) and the Ghana federation of persons with disabilities (GFD)

The fund is disbursed to meet the following needs:

1. a. To support income generating activities of individual persons with disability as a means of economic empowerment
2. b. To provide educational support for children, students and trainees with disabilities
3. c. To build a capacity of organizations of persons with disabilities (OPWDS) in the district to enable them to advocate and asset their rights and undertake awareness reason and sensitize on disability issues
4. d. To support persons with disabilities have access to technical aids and other assistive devices and equipment
5. Alternative Livelihood Programmes (ALP)
6. Child Rights Promotion and Protection Programmes

The Assembly is mandated to ensure the welfare and protection of children within jurisdiction of the municipality. Child Promotion and Protection Programmes are social intervention programmes designed to mitigate social and environmental issues that impede on the psychosocial, educational and physical development of children. The Department of Social Welfare places keen interest in such cases as child abuse, child and forced labour and child tracking.

Any person with any form of information relating to child abuse, child labour, forced labour or child trafficking, is entreated to report such issue to the Department.

The Department also collaborate with NGOs to form Community Child Protection Programmes.

5. Women Empowerment Activities and Gender Related Issues

Women empowerment is the promotion of women’s ability to make their own informed choices and the right to influence social change in other to maintain or improve their self-worth.

The Assembly perform a number of programmes to help promote women self-worth.

6. Domestic and Spousal Abuse Cases
7. Sensitization on Social and Other Developmental Issues
8. Community Mobilization for Community Development Initiatives
9. Registration and Monitoring Daycare centres

Daycare centres are facilities or institutions that offer daycare services to preschools children (0 to 4years) to enable their parents or guardians particularly mothers to work fulltime or at least pay attention to other socio-economic activities deemed important.

The children’s Act 1998, Act 560 mandates the social welfare and community development in various MMDAS to regulate these Daycare centres in their jurisdiction.

Section 115 (4) of the Act enjoins such facilities to register with the department and be awarded with certificate upon meeting basic standard requirement. This is however followed by quarterly field monitoring of offices (social workers) to ensure that these basic requirements are maintained if not improved

 

Hotlines For Vulnerable/ Children & Clients

OFFICE LINE:

0342298061 / 0249159313 / 0247070052

HOT LINE:

0597196699