Purpose of the sub-programme
The Social Sector Sub-Programme aimed to increase
EPWP outcomes (work opportunities and training) of the Early Childhood
Development (ECD) and Home Community Based Care (HCBC) programmes by
supporting the improvement of service delivery.
Work undertaken
Informed by the findings of a STAF assignment into
problems with Social Sector EPWP delivery in 2005, and interactions
with a range of stakeholders in the Social Sector, the Support
Programme hypothesised that the most effective method of improving
EPWP performance was to monitor HCBC or ECD service delivery, identify
service gaps and increase EPWP work opportunity outputs by expanding
the delivered service. It was anticipated that the most useful support
tool that could be provided for this would be a cellular reporting
system that could be used by caregivers from remote sites. A business
plan for this was developed and submitted to the Business Trust
In 2006, the Support Programme commenced discussions with a number of
other initiatives with similar intent including: the Japanese
International Cooperation Agency; the Universal Services Agency and
the European Union – to mention some. Work also commenced with the
EPWP Unit’s Social Sector Directorate in trying to identify how the
programme should engage with Provinces.
In late 2006 engagement began with Non Profit Organisations (NPOs) and
sites in both KZN and Limpopo in an effort to map the way in which a
reporting tool could be used.
In 2007 a pilot programme commenced with NPOs in Limpopo who were
implementing home based care services on behalf of the Department of
Health and Social Development. A cellular application developed by
Afrigis was used. A social research organisation was appointed by the
Support Programme to receive and quality control the data received.
The data was kept in a static database by a third agency also
appointed by the Support Programme. The reporting function worked well
for sites and for caregivers, however government officials were not
intrinsically involved in the implementation of the programme and the
lack of a “live management system” meant the outputs of the project
remained essentially invisible.
In KZN a manual process of assisting sites to report data onto the
EPWP Excel template was initiated but a pilot project similar to that
in Limpopo never commenced. The manual system entailed the development
and filling in of a paper report by each site and forwarding it to the
social research organisation who loaded it onto the Excel template.
In respect of both processes applied in Limpopo and KZN, the key
components were as follows:
- An assessment was undertaken to determine the number and
location of the NGOs that the Department of Health and Social
Development were funding. In both Provinces the assessment gave for
the first time an accurate picture of the number of sites through
which HCBC was delivered in the province and the key challenges
being faced in delivering the service.
- The database developed from the assessment was then updated on a
monthly basis, using a paper-based management system in KZN and the
cellular system in Limpopo. The data collected was developed in
consultation with officials of the Departments of Social Development
and Health officials at provincial level, as well as within the
districts and focused on capturing household base data.
- The data generated from the systems, provided for the first time
on a monthly basis, information on the households receiving HCBC
services and on the extent of services being provided. In both
provinces this data was found to be extremely useful.
However by the end of 2007 it was clear that the
lack of an integrated management system was a significant flaw to the
project proceeding. The company implementing the Infrastructure MIS
was therefore contracted to develop both the cellular application and
the web based information system to support it.
By early 2008 the system was being developed, but the pilot activities
in Limpopo had ceased. The manual reporting support in KZN continued.
The intent of the programme had been to demonstrate the value that a
comprehensive service delivery management system could add both to the
implementing department and to the EPWP Unit, and then in partnership
transfer the system to the Department at their cost.
While the data being generated through the two systems was providing
excellent data that was found to be extremely useful to the
implementers, high level participation within the Provincial
Departments of Social Development/Health and the national Department
of Social Development was difficult to secure. Thus these high level
officials were not exposed to the value that the system was providing
and did not see any value in terms of their own objectives. This
problem was exacerbated by the fact that the system was not
sufficiently developed to provide the full management functions
promised. By mid July 2008 it was clear that the programme needed to
conclude any direct engagement with Provinces and “re group”.
Numerous attempts were made to engage the national Department of
Social Development on the system and its potential value. However
these were not successful. Accordingly activities in respect of this
sub-programme ceased.
Achievements
The Social Sector Sub-Programme piloted a
methodology to identify and record workers at HCBC and ECD sites and
developed a Management and Information system which analyses this data
so that delivery can be better managed. While the methodology was
successfully tested in 110 sites in the Limpopo Province, the Support
Programme was not successful in transferring the system to Provincial
or National Government. This service delivery management system has
potential to serve as the basis for the non state sector for the
delivery of the incentive grant and the monitoring of the non state
sector in phase two of the EPWP.
Lessons learnt
This sub-programme showed that in order for support
to be provided the entity receiving the support must want and require
it and it must be directly related to the achievement of the entities
goals and objectives. The difficulty in securing buy in from high
level leadership within the national Department of Social Development
and the provinces meant that even though the pilot showed the value
and effectiveness of a service delivery management system, there was
no one willing to take ownership of the programme within these
departments.
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