Abstract
M.A. (Social Work)
A lack of national policy and indicators to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the developmental approach in the welfare field (specifically in child welfare) continues to be a challenge (Patel, Grobbelaar, Selipsky, & Curtis, 2011). There are no appropriate guidelines and procedures to evaluate new policy and approaches to child welfare practice, such as the community-based approach to Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs). Orphans constitute approximately 3.54 million of South Africa’s total population (Mathews, Jameison, Lake, & Smith, 2014, p. 92) and there is an increase in the number of vulnerable children, that is, those living in circumstances that deter holistic development (Fluke & Wulczyn, 2010; Mathews et al., 2014). These circumstances, together with the paucity of empirical research on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to inform community-based services for OVCs informed this study.
Therefore, this study intended to evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of the M&E system in a child welfare agency rendering community-based services for OVCs and to make recommendations on how the system might be improved. In order to achieve this, a number of objectives were linked to this goal. The first objective was to conduct a situation analysis of the M&E system in a specific child welfare agency. Second, was to evaluate what works and what does not work in the implementation of the agency’s design and the utilization of the agency’s data. The third objective was to evaluate the utility and appropriateness of the existing M&E data for organisational performance in rendering community-based services for OVCs. Finally, the study endeavoured to make recommendations for an appropriate and effective M&E system for community-based services for OVCs delivered in a child welfare setting.