Child Well Being Assessment

Child Well Being Assessment

• 1.
  Child Well BeingAssessment How is a child doing? Presented by Richard K Montsho OVC Technical Manager
• 2.
  Introduction Numbers ofchildren made vulnerable by HIV increase on continues basis The government continues to encourage and support the formation of community-based structures to provide comprehensive care, support and protection to OVC Example of these structures include Community-based child care forums (CCFs) which identify vulnerable children and link them to essential services as defined by the National Action Plan for children (NAP) On the absence of data that reflects a clear picture of a child’s needs or wellbeing, quality service delivery and proper allocation of resources becomes a nightmare!
• 3.
  Save the Children’sOVC Programme Overall Goal: To strengthen community structures to provide comprehensive care, support and protection to children made vulnerable by HIV Work through community based child care forums at wards level and schools – Primary focus is to identify vulnerable children; refer them to essential services, monitor and provide direct support (e.g. recreation, play therapy etc.) Currently support 837 CCF members and assist 66,668 OVC (Oct. 2007 – Sept. 2008)
• 4.
  Adaptation of theCSI to South Africa Context Moved from CSI to Child Well being Assessment CSI 12 dimension reduced to 08 domains Alignment to South Africa context; e.g. access to social grant Longitudinal : quarterly assessments (Q1 – 4) of the same child monitored over a year on the same form Action-oriented: how should the community-worker respond over time to move a child to a greater well being? Disaggregated by age : 0-5; 6-12; 13-18 years (e.g. education and health) Translated into local languages
• 5.
  Adaptation of theCSI to South Africa Context continues… Each scale is scored: 2 = Greater well being or there is no difference between the child’s current status and desired outcome 1= Fair, not quite what it should be, but closer to well being and slightly away from vulnerability 0 = Greater vulnerability; big difference between the child’s current status and desired outcome See example on the next slide!
• 6.
  Age: 0 –5 OVC No._________ Assessed by:___________ Date:___/___/___ Domains Assessment Scale Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Action Emotional wellbeing 2 Happy, plays with other children or caregiver 1 Plays with other children or caregiver sometimes 0 Crying, sits alone, does not play with other children Care 2 Is cared for by a consistent adult who has time and skills to give the care 1 Has care but caregiver is either over burdened or does not have the skills to give good care 0 Does not have a consistent adult to give care Abuse & exploitation 2 There are no concerns about abuse 1 Child was being abused, but the situation is being solved 0 Child is being abused or doing work Shelter Child has shelter that is safe & secure. Shelter is not adequate in one aspect e.g. overcrowded, insecure, unsafe Child does not have adequate shelter
• 7.
  Domains and desiredoutcomes of OVC services Domain Desired outcome Emotional Being A child is happy, plays well with other children or caregiver, or has friends of his own age Care Is cared for by a consistent adult who has time and skills to provide the required care Or has an adult who has time to listen and give advice Abuse & Exploitation There are no concern about abuse, exploitation or child labour Shelter Child has shelter that is safe & secured or that gives privacy Food Has enough food with protein in the diet, growing well or just enough food Access to Grants Child has accessed grant that and is benefitting Education Child is registered at the creche, or a play group attending regularly and doing well or well stimulated at home or at school and doing well Health Child is healthy; immunization is up to date, accessing appropriate sexual & reproductive health services
• 8.
  Progress to dateA training manual has been developed and is divided into Five sections Sections Contents One Background and overview of the manual Two What is the child well being? factors that contribute to child well being, how do you know when a child is well or vulnerable? what does child well assessment measure? And importance of child well being assessment. Three Overview of child well being assessment methods, Possible questions to ask while assessing a child Things to observe during the assessment process Four Analysis and taking action or intervening Five Data security, confidentiality clause & usage
• 9.
  Progress to datecontinue… Currently busy with the testing of the training manual and the assessment tool: 102 Youth facilitators and 27 CCF members from 4 wards has been already trained on the assessment tool 27 CCF members started with assessment of children, targeting 120 children The testing process will be completed before end of March 2009 First week April there will be focus group discussions with CCF members regarding the Child Well Being Assessment tool – (e.g. is it easy to use? what need to improve or change? how long does it take to assess a child?) Thereafter the tool will be refined and rolled – out to other wards
• 10.
  Administering the ChildWell being Assessment Upon completion of the assessment forms: CCF members submit them to the Community Coordinator for analysis. The data is then captured into a computer system located at secured place within the community (e.g. school or clinic). A Report is generated from this data with actions or interventions to be made. Thereafter all forms are kept safe at SCUK’s office to be used in the next quarter’s assessment.
• 11.
  How data willbenefit individual children ? It helps CCF members, volunteers or any person working with orphans and vulnerable to: Monitor the physical, emotional and situational well being of OVCs Basis for CCF member or volunteer to develop a care plan for a child Know if and how children benefit from services provided Evaluate the difference between the child’s current status and desired outcome Indicate the extent of child’s need Assist with planning and appropriate allocation of resources
• 12.
  Anticipated value ofthe Child Well Being Assessment It provides a consistent way to assess the well being of a child Puts focus on the well being of a child rather than on just number of services delivered It can assist to ensure that all areas of a child’s life are monitored It can help to ensure appropriate responses to actual need Aggregated scores can help evaluate the effectiveness of services provided on well being of children
• 13.
  Flying away from“greater vulnerability” to “Greater Well Being” Thank You!