DSWD – Department of Social Welfare and Development – Purpose, Functions and Responsibilities

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is a department of the Philippine government charged with the protection and promotion of the social welfare and development of Filipinos. In case you are wondering what DSWD does, its functions, programs, and services, please read on to find out more.

DSWD provides social protection to vulnerable groups such as orphans, abandoned children, street children, persons with disabilities, elderly persons, women, and indigenous peoples. The department also provides relief assistance during times of calamity and disaster.

DSWD also works to prevent and alleviate poverty through its programs on livelihood, social housing, educational assistance, and cash transfers. They have a wide range of programs and services that touch the lives of Filipinos from all walks of life.

Overview

Executive Order 123, enacted by President Corazon C. Aquino in 1987, reformed the MSSD and renamed this one the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Executive Order No. 292, commonly known as the Revised Administration Code of 1987, established the name, organizational structure, and functional areas of responsibility of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), as well as further defined its statutory authority.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is the government agency responsible for the development and implementation of social welfare and development programs in the Philippines.

What is DSWD?

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) of the Philippines is the executive branch of the government in charge of ensuring the social welfare and development of Filipinos.

What are the Benefits?

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is , mandated by law with developing, administering, and implementing comprehensive social welfare programs aimed at improving the living conditions and empowering disadvantaged children, youth, women, seniors, people with disabilities, families in crisis or at risk, and communities in need.

Vision

The following is the DSWD vision statement:

The Department of Social Welfare and Development envisions all Filipinos free from hunger and poverty, have equal access to opportunities, enabled by a fair, just, and peaceful society.

Mission

The DSWD mission statement for the coming years is as follows:

To lead in the formulation, implementation, and coordination of social welfare and development policies and programs for and with the poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged.

Core Values

The DWD Core Values are:

• Maagap at Mapagkalingang Serbisyo;
• Serbisyong Walang Puwang sa Katiwalian;
• Patas na Pagtrato sa Komunidad

DSWD Brand

The DSWD Brand is “DSWD May Malasakit”.

Objectives

The DSWD objectives are listed below.

• Assist service providers in improving their ability to manage individual, family, group, or community cases.
• Establish performance measures to track and evaluate the effectiveness of social welfare and development programs, as well as their influence on cases under supervision.
• Facilitate on-site and interactive case management problem-solving with service providers (LGU, NGO and DSWD).
• Improve worker/agency performance by giving or facilitating access to technical assistance for supervisory recipient.

DSWD Programs and Services

Here’s a list of programs and services under DSWD:

1. Adoption and Foster Care

It is permanently placing a minor with a parent/s other than the birth parents.

2. Bottom-Up Budgeting (BUB

The Bottom-Up Budgeting (BUB) Process, which was pilot tested in 2013 and is now in its third cycle, is designed to secure the implementation of key poverty reduction initiatives.

3. Center & Residential Care Facilities

These are 24-hour services that provide poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged individuals or families in crisis with an alternate family care arrangement.

4. Disaster Response Operations

It’s a life-saving emergency response as well as a long-term strategy.

5. Gender and Development

Gender is about relationships, including those between men and women, women and women, men and men, and boys and girls. The GAD recognizes that gender issues affect all aspects of development, and that gender must be considered as the government develops, budgets, implements, monitors, and evaluates development policies, programs, and projects.

6. International Social Welfare Services for Filipino (ISWSFN)

International Social Welfare Services for Filipino Citizens is a program that encourages migratory Filipinos and other overseas Filipino nationals in need of special protection to seek help from Philippine embassies in their countries of travel.

7. Kalahi CIDSS – NCDDP

The Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Services: Kapangyarihan at Kaunlaran sa Barangay (KALAHI-CIDSS: KKB) is the government of the Philippines’ community-driven flagship development project that aims to empower communities through direct participation in community projects aimed at reducing poverty. Its purpose is to bring asset reforms, human development services, capacity building, and governance engagement.

8. Listahanan

It is a data management system that identifies who the poor are and where they are in the country. The National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) manages it.

9. PAMANA

PAMANA (Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan) aims to improve underprivileged communities’ access to fundamental social services while also promoting responsive governance.

10. Protective Services Program

Individuals, families, and communities in crisis or challenging situations, as well as vulnerable or disaster-affected communities, receive a variety of interventions through the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) and Assistance to Communities in Needs (ACN) programs.

11. Recovery and Reintegration Program for Trafficked Persons (RRPTP)

The Recovery and Reintegration Program for Trafficked Persons (RRTP) is a comprehensive set of activities and services aimed at meeting the beneficiaries’ psychosocial and economic requirements.

12. Supplemental Feeding Program

It is a government-sponsored initiative that provides food in addition to regular meals to children as part of the DSWD’s ECCD program.

13. Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP)

The Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) is a community-based capacity-building program aimed at improving the socioeconomic situation of program participants.

A two-track program is used to implement SLP. The Microenterprise Development Track is the first track, and it assists microenterprises in becoming more organizationally and economically viable. Meanwhile, the Employment Facilitation Track, the second track, supports participants in finding acceptable employment prospects.

14. The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4ps)

The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, or “4Ps,” is a human development program that invests in the health and education of poor families, mainly those with children aged 0 to 18.

DSWD Centers and Institutions

Reception and Study Center for Children (RSCC)

The Reception and Study Center for Children (RSCC) is a 24-hour residential institution where children aged 0 to 6 receive social work interventions. It provides protection and rehabilitation services to neglected, abandoned, mistreated, and exploited children, as well as children with specific needs, such as children at risk and children in need of alternative family care, through temporary residential care.

It also offers appropriate and responsive social work intervention and assistance to address the growth and development, as well as the safety and security requirements of very young children who have been abused.

RSCC also aims to improve the competency and efficacy of the center’s employees and service providers in case management, correct placement, and other child rehabilitation services.

Objective

To care for and protect neglected, dependent, and abandoned children aged 0 to 6, including those who have been abused or exploited and those who have special needs.

Target Client

Children aged 0 to 6 are served at the Reception and Study Center for Children. These kids fall under one of the following categories:

Abandoned/Neglected Children – These are children who are left by their parents with private individuals or institutions such as hospitals, clinics, or properly signed child caring or placement agencies

Dependent Children – These are children whose parents are temporarily disabled and who have no known relatives to whom they can be entrusted.

Parents’ incapacity to provide care to their children may be due to the following conditions:

• Parents are momentarily unable to meet their children’s demands due to a lack of financial resources.
• The parent(s) must respond to urgent family matters and will be absent for a period of time.
• The parent(s) is currently in prison.
• The parent(s) is in the hospital or is unable to work due to illness.

Foundling – This refers to children who are left alone in public or private places, such as the streets. These kids are subjected to physical abuse. In the streets, there are moral, health, and environmental threats and risks.

Orphaned Children – These are children who do not have a family or relatives who can provide for them.

Physically Abused – This refers to children who have been abused, battered, or verbally abused by their own parents, guardians, neighbors, or other members of their community.

Sexually Abused – This refers to children who have been employed, lured, encouraged, or forced into engaging in sexual intercourse, lascivious conduct, molestation prostitution, or incestuous relationship

Transnational – These are children aged 0 to 6 years old who are the result of a relationship between a Filipino and a foreign national.

Voluntary Committed/Surrendered – This refers to children who are voluntarily given up by their parents for economic or personal reasons, such as child out of wedlock, a lack of financial means to support the child, or a child born as a result of rape.

Programs and Services

Adoption – It’s a socio-legal process that finds a permanent home/family for a child who has been voluntarily committed or declared abandoned.

Educational Services – It is the provision of educational opportunities for children with special needs based on their capacity and requirements by providing formal and non-formal education, remedial programs, and socio-cultural services and activities.

Foster Care Services – It is a social work intervention in which a licensed foster family offers planned replacement parental care to a child when the kid’s biological parents are temporarily unable to care for the child.

Health Services – It is the provision of preventative and therapeutic interventions with the goal of promoting health and reducing sickness and morbidity. Routine physical examinations, vaccines, deworming, growth tracking, vitamin supplements, environmental health and sanitation, inpatient and out-patient consultations, dental and physical therapy are just a few instances.

Home Life Services – Home life Services strives to create a welcoming environment in which children can experience family life. It provides food, clothing, and housing to children, as well as well-organized activities that provide a family-like experience in order to meet their physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual needs.

Legal Guardianship – It is a socio-legal process in which a child and his or her property are appointed to provide substitute parental care until the kid achieves the age of majority.

Psychological Services – Abuse or neglect can have a long-term and profound influence on a child’s physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. Through the conduct of psychological sessions, children are able to cope with and overcome the impact of harmful events and experiences. It entails conducting psychological assessments to evaluate a child’s personality and intellectual make-up, which is used to develop a suitable treatment plan or therapy program.

Documentary Requirements for Admission

• Birth Certificate (if available)
• Case Summary
• Medical Abstract/Certificate
• Medico Legal- if sexually/physically abused
• Police/Barangay blotter and affidavit of finder or referring party if abandoned/foundling.
• Referral Letter

Regional Rehabilitation Center for Youth (RRCY)

The RRCY is a residential facility meant to provide intensive therapy in a residential setting for Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) who have had their sentences suspended. It provides a safe and supportive environment for children who need to be rehabilitated.

While the RRCY provides institutional rehabilitation for CICL, the DSWD also offers community-based rehabilitation programs. Whenever possible, the RRCY connects its center-based services to community-based programs or community-based programs created for the goal of intervention and diversion (from formal court procedures), as well as rehabilitation of the CICL for final reintegration into his family and community.

Objective

To improve the psychological, emotional, and psycho-social well-being of Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) through treatment and rehabilitative programs.

Target Client

The target client is a CICL male between the ages of 15 and 18, who has committed an offense and has been ordered by the court to undergo rehabilitation at the DSWD facility (RRCY)

CICL who are serving a suspended sentence may be ordered by the court to participate in any or all of the disposition measures that are appropriate for their rehabilitation and wellbeing.

NO CHILD SHALL BE ADMITTED IN ANY REHABILITATION FACILITY WITHOUT A VALID ORDER BY THE COURT AFTER A HEARING FOR THIS PURPOSE. (sec. 45, RA 9344)

Programs and Services

The RRCY provides CICL with a home setting and a group living arrangement that is well-balanced, orderly, and non-formal.

CICL are also provided with the opportunity to participate in income-generating activities in order to earn money and save for the future. Specifically, the following is provided to CICL:

Support Services and Interventions

• Educational Services – This requires developing and implementing a thorough plan that offers each client with a learning environment and opportunities.
  Health Services – Include providing clients with appropriate medical care.
• Home life Services – This provides the clients with a home-like environment that encourages moral development.
• Psychological Services – It entails a comprehensive assessment and evaluation of the child’s personality and behavior, as well as psychological evaluation and testing with cooperating organizations.
• Recreational Programs – Developing a hobby or creative talent, such as athletics, singing, dancing, or playing instruments, can be used as a coping technique and an alternative activity to help individuals feel more competent, self-worth, and sense of identity.
• Social Services – The CICL in charge of the RRCY received professional assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This comprises therapies aimed at restoring/developing clients’ social functioning from admission through release, as well as preparing them for reintegration into their families.
• Spiritual Enhancement Program – Religious services and activities are held on a regular basis.

Treatment Interventions

• Behavioral Modification
• Counseling Services
• Milieu Therapy
• Therapeutic Community

DSWD Regional Haven

The DSWD-Regional Haven is a center-based facility that provides protective custody and psychological care to vulnerable, impoverished, and abused women.

DSWD-Regional Haven provides a steady stream of basic services through a team of social workers, psychologists, house parents, and other professionals who work with clients to create a loving environment in which trust, self-esteem, and healing can develop.

Objective

Women and girls who have been victims of violence, abuse, or exploitation should be protected and get effective intervention and rehabilitation services.

Target Client

Women and girls aged 7 to 17 years old, as well as women aged 18 to 59 years old, are the target clients. These are the following:

• Abandoned / Neglected – Girls (minors) who have been abandoned by their family / relatives due to difficulties.
• Battered / Abused – Women and girls who have been abused physically, mentally, or emotionally for a variety of reasons.
• Victims of Illegal Recruitment – Women who were recruited for various sorts of local or overseas employment, usually for free, but were thereafter mistreated.
• Victim of Involuntary / Forced Prostitution – Women and girls who have been recruited for various jobs but are forced into prostitution against their will.
• Victims of Sexual Abuse
  • Incest – These are victims of sexual abuse who have carnal relations with their parents, siblings, or relatives.
  • Rape – These are who have been subjected to genital copulation in the presence of a threat.
  • Others – These are standees that are looking for long-lost relatives or who are in a crisis and want immediate professional assistance.

Programs and Services

Survival and Protection Services

After Care Services – Following discharge from the center, it is viewed as a continuation of the rehabilitation process in the community.

Character Building Program – By focusing on desirable attributes, this program encourages the formation and strengthening of values and characters. This assists in the development of smart decision based on universal basic principles.

Family Counseling – This focuses on helping the client’s family members in coping with fears, frustrations, and trauma, among other things, as well as enhancing their family’s capacity to solve their problem.

Food, Nutrition, and Health Services – It gives people with adequate nutrition and meals in order to maintain their health.

Home life Services – The client is introduced to a home-like environment that is conducive to moral development.

Legal Services – Residents will benefit from this during court hearings and other legal problems.

Medical Services – This entails providing clients with appropriate medical care.

Psychological / Psychiatric Services – It entails a comprehensive examination and evaluation of the child’s personality and behavior, which is carried out in collaboration with other organizations employing psychological evaluation and testing.

Recreational Programs – Individuals might utilize developing a hobby or creative talent, such as athletics, singing, dancing, or playing instruments, as a coping mechanism and an alternative activity to make them feel more competent, self-worth, and sense of identity.

Social Services – Women / Children in Especially Difficult Circumstances (WEDC / CEDC) in care at the Regional Haven are provided with social assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This comprises interventions aimed at restoring and developing clients’ social functioning from admission to release, as well as preparing them for reintegration into their families.

Spiritual Enhancement Program – On a regular basis, religious services and activities are held.

Development and Participation Services

Educational Services – This involves developing and implementing a thorough plan that offers each client with a learning environment and opportunities.

Individual and Group Counseling – It improves the resident’s interpersonal relationships while also allowing them to become more aware of their flaws and abilities.

Productivity and Skills Training – This program seeks to provide and improve client skills in order to prepare them for independent life and self-reliance.

Spiritual Services and Value Formation – This contributing factor requires consistency in assisting clients from and by certain religious groups with their spiritual requirements.

Sports, Creative Arts, and Recreational Activities – It is a coping technique and alternative activity that tries to create feelings of competence, self-worth, and identity by cultivating a passion or creative talent such as athletics, singing, dancing, or playing instruments.

Video: Programs and Services Feature of DSWD

If you want to learn more about DSWD Programs and Services, you can view AVRC DSWD’s YouTube video below:

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some common questions and answers about DSWD office:

1. What is DSWD?

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is in charge of creating, administering, and implementing comprehensive social welfare programs aimed at helping disadvantaged children, youth, women, seniors, and people with disabilities and underserved communities improve their living conditions.

2. What is the DSWD email address?

DSWD email address is inquiry@dswd.gov.ph.

3 What is the DSWD hotline?

You can reach the DSWD via their hotline at (632) 931-8101 to 07.

3. Can I go directly to DSWD?

Yes, you can directly go to DSWD. DSWD office is open from Monday to Friday at 8:00am to 5:00pm.

4. What is the purpose of DSWD?

The purpose of the DSWD is to create, administer, and implement comprehensive social welfare programs to improve the living conditions and empower disadvantaged children, youth, women, seniors, people with disabilities, families in crisis or at risk, and communities in need.

5. What is the amount of DSWD cash assistance?

The selected beneficiaries will receive assistance in the form of outright cash in the amount of Three Thousand Pesos (PHP 3,000.00) to help them meet their basic needs and those of their families.

6. How do I access SAP DSWD through the internet?

Self-registration is available for SAP beneficiaries at www.reliefagad.ph. Users can use a mobile or desktop browser to access the mobile application. Then, to begin the procedure, click register.

NOTE: The ReliefAgad mobile application is only available to people who have been issued a Social Amelioration Card (SAC).

7. Who is eligible for financial support from the DSWD?

Families/individuals who are indigent, vulnerable, disadvantaged, or poor in the informal sector, as determined by the DSWD Listahanan, government employees and contract service workers, and those in crisis as determined by social workers.

8. Who is considered indigent in the Philippines?

Those whose family income does not exceed P14,000.00 per month in Metro Manila, and those whose family income does not exceed P13,000.00 per month in other regions.

Summary

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is the executive branch of government that is responsible of guaranteeing Filipinos’ social welfare and development.

The Revised Administration Code of 1987, also known as DSWD Executive Order No. 292, established the DSWD’s name, organizational structure, and functional areas of responsibility. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is charged by law with developing, administering, and implementing comprehensive social welfare programs aimed at improving the living conditions of disadvantaged children, youth, women, seniors, people with disabilities, and underserved communities.

Contact Information

DSWD Office
Address: DSWD Building, Contitution Hills, Batasan Complex, Quezon City
E-mail address: inquiry@dswd.gov.ph
Telephone Number: (632) 931-8101 to 07
Website: http://www.dswd.gov.ph/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/dswdserves

Google Map Location

Please see the map guide of the main headquarters office of DSWD: