Social Work Policies,

Programs & Services

Jess Far, MSW, RSW
Former PRC SW Board of Examiner

Former UNICEF Child Protection Specialist (retired)

Board of Trustees, Masayang Pamilya Org. Inc.
Consultant, Child Protection & Parenting

August 01, 2025 Zamboanga City

Mentimeter
Outline: SWPP Review

 Social Work Statistics & Research

 Social Welfare Policies, Programs & Services
 Social Welfare Agency Administration
 Social Welfare Project Development & Management
 ‘RESILIENCY’ – Katatagan ng Indibidwal, Magulang at Pamilya

I AM I HAVE
Internal External
Resources & Resources
being a Person
Positive Family Support
Good Self Esteem Good Friends, Peers
filled with faith & hope. Supportive Community
Being a Responsible Child Friendly School
Person a

I CAN I WILL
Competence & Resolution/Moving
skills Forward/Next steps

Leadership skills Positive Behavior Change

-Problem Solving skills
Transformation
-Communication Skills
-Ability to manage Moving Forward
one’s feelings
 Statistics
 Qs – Why are numbers significant in Social Work Practice?

Numbers are crucial in social work for various

reasons:

a. Understanding social issues

b. Evaluating interventions (how it works)

c. Advocating for policy changes or need for new

policy

d. Development of new of innovative programs or

interventions
Statistics
 Qs – Why are numbers significant in Social Work Practice?

Numerical or number information:

- Will allow social workers to understand trends,

patterns, and disparities or gaps within populations.

- For clients, numbers will provide data on the progress

of the intervention. (was there any change?)
Statistics
 Qs – Why are numbers significant in Social Work Practice?
Example:

- What does it mean for a large family with plenty of children and
parents have no permanent source of income?

- Numbers will help the social worker assess the coping capacity &
resiliency level of the clients, and numbers will provide the data
on the progress of the intervention.

- Numbers or data must be ‘complete’, ‘updated’ and

‘correct’.
Research
 Qs – Why are research important in Social Work Practice?

1. Evidence-based Practice
2. Know and understand the needs of clients
3. Program Development
4. Program Evaluation
5. Policy Influence
6. Public Investment / Funding Support
7. Professional Development
8. Cultural Competence
Basic Importance of Validation in
social work research?
 Establish Credibility – to make it trustworthy and applicable
in real-world settings

 Ensuring accuracy – help minimize errors and biases,

ensuring that findings accurately reflect the phenomenon
being studied

 Informing Practice – enabling the development of effective

policies and interventions
Basic Importance of Validation in
social work research?

 Building Trust – foster trust among stakeholders,

participants, policy makers and funders

 Enhance Impact and Usefulness – scaling-up intervention

What are the common ‘validation’
strategy in doing a research work?

 Triangulation – using multiple data sources, methods, and

investigators to verify findings

 Member checking – verifying findings with participants and

stakeholders to ensure accuracy

 Peer Review – reviewed by experts to ensure quality and

acuuracy
A Concrete example of a research
work relevant to social work
practice
National
Philippine Population and the Poverty
Situation

Philippines Population

Mid-Year Population Estimate (as of

July 2025), is 116 Million ++
(116,786,962, ) NSO
Philippine Population and Poverty Situation (116+ Million)

40% of the population - living under the

poverty line, many families rely on their
children’s contribution to the family income.

This perpetuates the situation of child labor,

exploitation, child trafficking and exposed
children at risk.
 80%
of children and young people
(aged 13-24 years)
experienced any form of
violence in all settings.
3out of 5
children
experience
physical violence
mostly
happening in their
own home.
14.3
% happen in
school.
 3 out of 10
Filipino children still live below the poverty line

I N B A R M M , T H AT N U M B E R G R O W S T O
6.5 out of 10
 When any
form of
disaster
strikes,
children
are the ones
who suffer
the most.
 1 out of 3
CHILDREN UNDER 5 YRS OLD ARE UNDERNOURISHED
Only 80% of poorest HHs
have access to basic
d r i n k i n g w a t e r, c o m p a r e d
to 99 % of HHs in the
highest wealth quintile
 2.85 MILLION
FILIPINO CHILDREN BETWEEN
5 - 1 5 Y. O . A R E O U T - O F - S C H O O L
 Children Without Birth
Registration

Many children are born without being

registered.

Unable to register at birth deprives a child to

basic access to social services, health
programs and other support services.
Physical violence
2 out of 3 GENDER

67%
children reported to have
experienced any form of physical
violence in various settings.

63%
Males (66.9%)
Females
(63.2%) MALE FEMALE
Psychological violence
3 in 5 children GENDER

64%
reported to have experienced
any form of psychological
violence in any setting.

59%
Males (59.2%)
Females
(63.8%) MALE FEMALE
Sexual violence
1 in 4 children GENDER

reported to have experienced

29%
any form of sexual violence in
any setting.

20%
Males (28.7%)
Females
(20.1%) MALE FEMALE
PREVALENCE OF VAC, BY GENDER
Bullying

3 in 5
GENDER

67%
children
reported to
experience
peer violence

59%
or bullying

Males (59.4%)
MALE FEMALE
Females
. (66.8%)
Cyberviolence
1 in 2
GENDER

50%
children
reported to
experience
cyberbullying

47%
. Males (50.4%)
MALE FEMALE
Females
(46.7%)
About 60% or 2.4 million working children are
exposed to hazardous working conditions such
as work in pyrotechnics, deep sea fishing, and
mining.

Child trafficking and child prostitution are among

the worst forms of violation against children.
 Trafficking in Persons

The Philippines is recognized

as a source, transit and
destination country for cross-
Government and
NGOs estimate the border trafficking of women
number of children at
risk of human
and children for the purpose of
trafficking to be sexual exploitation and forced
between 60,000 to
100,000.
labour.
 Trafficking in Persons
Since the passage of the Anti-Trafficking in
Persons Act of 2003, the number of cases filed
for investigation and prosecution by the
Trafficked children Department of Justice has steadily increased.
are generally female,
between 14 to 17
years old, from large
households and with
some years of
schooling
 Child Pornography

Based on a study by the PNP, websites and

Child Pornography
chat rooms are popular venues for luring
and grooming children into pornography.
Any representation, by
whatever means, of a
Pedophiles and syndicates trade and deal in
child engaged in real
the business of child pornography.
or simulated explicit
sexual activities or any
Increasing incidents of risky sexual
representation of the
behavior among adolescents and youth also
sexual parts of the
increase their vulnerability to become
child
Article 2 (c), Optional victims of child pornography.
Protocol
Children in Street
Situation (CSS)

CSS are highly vulnerable to a number of

risks such as substance abuse, hazardous
work, sexual abuse and commercial sexual
exploitation, sexually-transmitted diseases
(STD) and HIV/AIDS, and involvement in
organized crime.
 Children in Conflict
with the Law (CICL)

70% of the crimes committed by CICLs

CICLs are mostly
male (95%), aged are theft, robbery, sniffing of glue and
14-17. solvents, & vagrancy.
80% are first-time
offenders. Despite the passage of the Juvenile
Justice and Welfare Act (RA 9344), there
are still hundreds of CICLs nationwide
who need case management
intervention.
Children affected by Armed
Conflict

Situations of armed conflict results to internally displaced

families and children.

Incidence of grave child rights violations are experienced by

children and exposed them to risks.
 Physically Challenge
Children

An estimated 5.1 million children are living with disabilities; challenges include
limited access to education, healthcare, and rehabilitation services, often
compounded by poverty, lack of data, and societal discrimination.

The situation highlights the need for improved and more inclusive programs
and services tailored to the specific needs of children with disabilities (CWDs).

"No Child Left Behind": Study calls for better care of children with disabilities.
The New study advocates non-discriminating environment and responsive
interventions.
 IP Children
(Indigenous People)

Less attention are also being undertaken to respond to the concerns of IP

children. Data of this group of children is not readily available.

Efforts to identify evidence-based situation of these

children is a big challenge to duty-bearers.
The Philippines has an advance legal
framework for the protection of
children:

RA 7610 on child abuse and

exploitation

RA 8043 and RA 8552 on domestic

and inter-country adoption

RA 9208 on anti-trafficking in
persons

RA 9231 on elimination of worst

forms of child labor

RA 9262 on violence against women

and their children

RA 9344 on Juvenile Justice and

Welfare.

RA 11908 PES Act – Parent

Effectiveness Service Program Act
 Most recent Laws of the Philippines
concerning Child Protection

Child rape at Child Gender based Online sexual

sexual consent marriage (RA sexual harassment abuse and
(RA 11648) 11596) (safe spaces act) exploitation (RA
11930)
(RA 11313)
 Basic Project Development Cycle
A social work project development cycle typically involves a series of phases:

Identification,
Planning,
Implementation,
Evaluation, and
Termination.

These stages help ensure projects are well-defined, effectively managed, and
achieve their intended outcomes.
 Identification
Needs Assessment:
Identifying the specific needs of the target population or community through research and
data [Link] involves understanding the social problems, challenges, and gaps in
services.

Problem Definition:
Clearly articulating the social problem the project will [Link] includes defining the
scope and target population.

Project Idea Generation:

Brainstorming potential project ideas that can effectively address the identified needs.
 Planning

Goal and Objective Setting:

Defining specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals and
objectives for the project.

Developing a Project Plan:

Creating a detailed plan that outlines activities, timelines, resources, budget, and evaluation
methods.

Stakeholder Engagement:
Identifying and involving relevant stakeholders (e.g., community members, partner
organizations) in the planning process.
 3. Implementation:

Resource Mobilization:
Securing necessary resources (funding, personnel, materials, etc.) to carry out the project.

Program Delivery:
Implementing the project activities according to the planned schedule and guidelines.

Monitoring and Evaluation:

Continuously tracking progress, collecting data, and assessing the effectiveness of the
project activities
 4. Evaluation:
Outcome Evaluation: Assessing whether the project achieved its intended goals and
objectives.
Process Evaluation: Examining the effectiveness of the project implementation process
and identifying areas for improvement.
Impact Evaluation: Assessing the long-term impact of the project on the target
population and communit
 5. Termination:

Project Closure:

Formally ending the project, including finalizing reports, documenting lessons learned, and
celebrating achievements.

Sustainability Planning:
Developing strategies for sustaining the project's positive outcomes and impact after the
project ends.
 The Basic Consideration of
Social Work Project Development:
Ethical Considerations: Ensuring ethical practice throughout the project cycle,
including respecting the rights and dignity of participants.

Cultural Competence: Being aware of and responsive to the cultural context of the
community served.

Sustainability: Planning for the long-term viability and impact of the project.

Community Participation: Involving the community in all phases of the project.

Collaboration:Working effectively with other agencies and organizations.
Social Administration in Social Work
Practice
1.
2. 1. Needs Assessment

3.
4.5.
2. Policy Development
3. Program Planning
4. Resource Management

6.
7.
5. Implementation
6. Monitoring and Evalaution

8.
9.
7. Collaboration and Partnership
8. Accountability and Transparency

10. 9. Sustainability with capacity to scale

10. Impact to Quality of Life with Positive Results
Child Protection website:

[Link]
[Link]
“Children are tired of being called the
future.

They want to enjoy their childhood,

free of violence, now!”
Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, introducing the report of the UN Secretary
General’s Study on Violence
against Children to the General Assembly,
October 2006.