Assessing Alternative Care for Children in Uganda

In 2017, the USAID Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF) engaged MEASURE Evaluation to build on and reinforce progress in advancing national efforts on behalf of these children. The assessment process was designed to inform action planning to address high-priority needs identified in alternative care for children. The assessment was conducted during a 45-person multi-stakeholder participatory workshop, from November 27 to 30, 2017. The workshop brought together government partners, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders to design, plan, and conduct the assessment. The assessment tool used was a participatory self-assessment framework, which was reviewed and validated by the Country Core Team (CCT) prior to the workshop. The assessment focused on several key areas, including prevention of unnecessary family separation, foster care, residential care, formal kinship care, informal kinship care, adoption, and system deinstitutionalization. The assessment also examined the leadership and governance of the alternative care system, as well as the service delivery and monitoring and evaluation processes. The findings of the assessment highlighted several key issues, including the need for improved data collection and analysis, enhanced leadership and governance, and increased capacity for service delivery. The assessment also identified areas where the alternative care system was functioning well, such as in the provision of foster care and residential care. The assessment process and subsequent action planning session will help strengthen country capacity to gather, interpret, and use high-quality data to inform decision-making and improve the alternative care system. The recommendations from the assessment will inform action planning to address high-priority needs identified in alternative care for children. The assessment tool used in this study was a participatory self-assessment framework, which was designed to engage stakeholders in the assessment process and ensure that the findings were relevant and actionable. The framework consisted of several components, including a dashboard for crosscutting issues, a dashboard for prevention of unnecessary family separation, and dashboards for each of the key areas of alternative care. The assessment findings were presented in a series of dashboards, which provided a visual representation of the data and highlighted key trends and issues. The dashboards were used to facilitate discussion and analysis among stakeholders, and to identify areas where the alternative care system needed improvement. The assessment process was facilitated by a Country Core Team (CCT), which was led by the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development (MGLSD) and comprised government partners and other stakeholders. The CCT played a critical role in designing, planning, and conducting the assessment, and in ensuring that the findings were relevant and actionable. The assessment recommendations will inform action planning to address high-priority needs identified in alternative care for children. The recommendations include improving data collection and analysis, enhancing leadership and governance, and increasing capacity for service delivery. The recommendations also highlight the need for increased collaboration and coordination among stakeholders, and for improved monitoring and evaluation of the alternative care system. The assessment findings and recommendations will be used to inform decision-making and improve the alternative care system in Uganda. The assessment process and subsequent action planning session will help strengthen country capacity to gather, interpret, and use high-quality data to inform decision-making and improve the alternative care system.