I. PURPOSE AND RATIONALE

The first six years of life is considered a critical period being the formative stage during which children have to be provided with stimulating and creative opportunities to ensure full attainment of their potentials. Due to poverty, however, a lot of Filipino children do not enjoy enough opportunities for early childhood enrichment and development.

Thus, the need for a day care centers and supplemental feeding consistently surfaced among the top ten unmet minimum basic needs (MBNs). Specifically, day care centers are considered as a critical service for disadvantaged families since both parents have to work to increase the family income. Similarly, malnutrition among 0-5 years old Filipino children is one of the manifestations of poverty.

Although the provision of day care centers and supplemental feeding are among the basic services which were developed to the local government units, the 5th and 6th class municipalities do not have enough resources to fully assume these responsibilities.

Thus, the Poverty Alleviation Fund 2 (PAF 2) includes a component for Basic Child Care, specifically for Day Care Service and Supplemental Feeding.

II. DEFINITION OF TERMS

1.         Convergence Areas — for the purpose of this fund, refers to 5th and 6th class municipalities, particularly those with nationally-coordinated and/or locally-initiated convergence areas where deliberate synchronization and coordination of SRA resources, services and interventions by SRA Flagship Programs, LGUs and other agencies/entities are currently focused. Specifically, these are the following: Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs); Priority Bays and Lakes (PBLs); Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claims (CADCs); Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (CIDSS); Urban Areas, Resettlement Sites and Growth Centers (UARGCs); and the Disaster Victims and Resettlement sites (DVRS).

2.         Day Care Center — refers to a form of Day Care Service which provides care during part of the day in a facility in the barangay to children who are 3-5 years old, by an accredited day care worker.

3.         Day Care Service — refers to the provision of supplemental parental care to a 0-5 years old children who may be neglected, potentially neglected, abused, exploited of abandoned, during part of the day when the parents cannot attend to their needs.

4.         Minimum Basic Needs (MBW) — refers to survival (food and nutrition; health; water and sanitation; clothing), security (shelter; peace and order/public safety; income and livelihood), and enabling needs (basic education and literacy; participation in community development; family care/psycho-social) of a Filipino family.

5.         Partner Agency/ies — refers to other agencies whose technical concerns are directly related to the provision of Day Care Service and Supplemental Feeding. Specific to this Basic Child Care component, the partner agencies are she Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS).

6.         Principal Agency/ies — refers to the Department of Social Welfare and Development which was mandated to take the lead role on the implementation of PAF-2 program component on Basic Child Care.

7.         Provincial Entitlement — refers to the maximum amount of funds available per province which constitute working figures within which 5th and 6th class municipalities will determine/set their municipal allocations and activities.

8.         Supplemental Feeding — refers to the provision of "one hot meal a day" which primarily aims to provide nutritional supplement to underweight 3-6 years old children.

9.         5th and 6th Class Municipalities — refers to municipalities classified as based on Department Order No. 35-95 dated May 25, 1995 of the Department of finance (DOF).

III. PROJECT POLICIES

A.        Participatory Decision-Making - In the spirit of people empowerment, the principle of participatory decision-making shall be adopted particularly in the following aspects of project operations.

1.      Identification of Needs: The need for the day care service and supplemental feeding shall be determined through a survey of needs, preferably, the minimum basic need (MBN) survey.

2.      Project Development and Management: Project implementation shall involve an organized parent's group/committee at the barangay level. These community structures shall be responsible for project identification; project development or preparation of proposal; project management and maintenance; monitoring.

B.        National and Local Government Partnership - The PAF 2 shall be considered as an augmentation fund since the provision of day care service and supplemental feeding are among the devolved basic services. As such, the local government units shall provide counterpart contributions as indicated in the project protocols. Moreover, the allocation of funds per municipality and barangay shall be primarily the responsibility of the provincial and municipal local government units.

C.        Program Standardization - The projects shall be implemented in accordance with the standards set by the national implementing agencies. For this purpose, technical assistance shall be continually provided by the concerned national agencies through structured and on the — job training as well as through monitoring and program audit. Any deviations from the national standards shall be subject to negotiations with the Regional offices of the national agencies.

IV. PROJECT COVERAGE

A.        Geographical Coverage - The projects shall be undertaken exclusively in 5th and 6th class municipalities, particularly those with nationally-coordinated and locally-initiated SRA convergence areas nationwide.

B.        Sectoral Coverage - Children aged 0-5 years old

C.        Project Area Prioritization - Priority shall be given to non-CIDSS municipalities and/or barangays.

V. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

A.        Day Care Service

1.         Organization of Parents Committee: There should be an organized parents committee to plan for and manage the implementation of the project. The committee shall be composed of parents, a representative of the barangay council and a representative of a non-governmental organization (NGO), if applicable.

The committee will be responsible for the following:

a)      Preparation of the project proposal including submission of plans and specifications; list of materials and cost estimates; identification of stores/outlets, etc.; and later, for the production and repair of program materials.

The proposal shall contain the proponent; proposed site/location; amount requested; rationale/justification indicating the results of the MBN survey as one of the top ten unmet needs; committees; work plan. Attachments to the proposal shall include the deed of lot donation; MOA between DSWD and LGU; sketch/plan in accordance with the DSWD standard; community commitments for labor counterpart.

b)      Creation of different sub-committees to be responsible for specific tasks including the manpower/labor contribution of the community for the construction of the day care center;

c)       Negotiation with the local government unit for the required LGU counterpart.

2.         Provision of salary subsidy for day care worker: The hiring of day care worker (DCW) shall be one of the counterpart of the LGU. However, should the LGU not have enough funds for the payment of the DCW salary, a salary subsidy of, at most, P1,500.00 may be drawn from the fund. The municipal local government unit shall be responsible for the payment of DCW salary for the succeeding years.

3.         Training of DCW : Funding support shall be provided for the training of the DCW to be conducted by the DSWD regional child development specialists, in coordination with the LGUs.

4.         Provision of Program materials: To ensure appropriate delivery of services, each day care center shall be provided with basic program materials which were approved by the Early Childhood Development Experts Committee on Review Materials. For this purpose, P2,000.00 shall be allotted per day care center.

5.         Construction of the day care center: A maximum funding assistance of P150,000.00 shall be provided for the construction of a day care center or an assistance of P80,000.00 for repair of an existing center to comply with the standard specifications.

6.         LGU counterpart: The LGU shall provide the following counterpart.

a.    Transportation expenses of DCW for participation in the training;	f.     Designation of the municipal engineer to assist in the preparation of the sketch/plan and other specifications of the center as well as supervise the community volunteers during the construction of the center.
b.    Lot for the site of the center;
c.    Maintenance of the center;
d.    Salary of the worker;
e.    Additional program materials;

A Memorandum of Agreement among the DSWD Regional offices governors and municipal mayors shall be executed to contain, among others, the LGU counterpart and their respective responsibilities.

B.        Supplemental Feeding Program - This is the provision of "one hot meal a day" which primarily aims to provide nutritional supplement to underweight 3-6 years old children. Parents committee/subcommittee are tasked to handle/manage the activity.

1.         Organization of Parents: To help manage the Supplemental feeding program effectively, the parents shall be organized into a Committee by the MSWDOs. The committee's functions shall be as follows:

a.    Daily budgeting and purchase of food to be cooked;
b.    Preparation of food and cooking in accordance with the 6-week cycle menu;
c.    Gathering and actual feeding of the underweight children;
d.    Monthly weighing and deworming before the feeding;
e.    Conduct of nutrition education and health-related activities in the community.

The MSWDOs shall orient and provide training to the committee members as well as ensure that they meet regularly. With the assistance of the MSWDOs, the SF Committee shall prepare the proposal, indicating the proponent, location, number of target children; amount requested; rationale specifying malnutrition as among the top ten unmet MBN of the community; duration; and committee commitments.

Upon approval of the proposal by the DSWD Regional offices based on endorsement of the LGU, the money shall be released to the municipal government which shall, in turn release to the Parents Committee to be deposited in their savings account with the SF Committee president, treasurer and MSWDOs as signatories. Withdrawals for purchase of food shall be on weekly or monthly basis, depending on the plan and capability of the Committee.

2.         Weighing and Deworming: Initial weighing shall be done prior to the first feeding and every month thereafter to monitor the nutritional status of the children. The children shall be dewormed before the first feeding upon advise of the municipal health officer. The SF Committee shall coordinate with the rural health unit (RHU) for this purpose. A growth monitoring card/chart shall be used as individual record of nutritional status to be presented by the parents every visit.

3.         Actual Feeding: Feeding shall conducted at a duly-designated feeding center (multi-purpose or barangay hall) for seven (7) days a week for six (6) months at a cost of P5.00 per day. As much as possible, the feeding shall be done by cluster of 25-30 children for manageability.

Purchases shall be made at the local market. In case any of the ingredients is not available, substitution may be made for as long as the replacement has the equivalent/similar nutritive value. Liquidation of expenses shall be done prior to the succeeding withdrawal.

4.         Other Support Services: To complement the supplemental feeding, the parents shall be trained on homeyard food production; home food processing; and provided with nutrition education.

VI. LOCALIZATION AND FUND ACCESS PROCESS

A.        Consensus-Building Process - At the national level, the DSWD shall provide the municipal governments with a prototypes of the Day Care Service and Supplemental Feeding Program, which include project description, cost and proposed LGU counterparts. At the regional, provincial and municipal levels, consensus building for area allocation shall follow the procedures as stated in the general guidelines.

B.        Endorsement of the Projects - At the regional, provincial and municipal levels, the DSWD Regional offices, PSWDOs and MSWDOs shall be responsible in jointly endorsing the proposals and other pertinent documents to the DSWD central office.

The DSWD central office shall review and endorse to DBM the work and financial plan (PAF-2 Form 3) submitted by the Regional offices based on the agreements made at the local level.

The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to be forged between the local government units and the DSWD regional offices shall serve as the legal instrument for the allocation of funds per municipality. As previously mentioned, the MOA shall contain, among others, the respective roles and responsibilities of the implementing agencies as well as the LGUs, including their counterpart.

In the case of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), DSWD Central Office shall enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the DSWD-ARMM through the Office of the Regional Governor (ORG-ARMM), for the implementation of the projects/programs in the four provinces of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur.

C.        Release of Funds - The DBM shall release the allotment as well as the NCAs through the DSWD regional offices in accordance with the agreed municipal project allocation mix and the work and financial plans submitted for the purpose. For ARMM, the NCAs shall be released directly to the DSWD Central Office which shall, in turn, release the funds to the ORG-ARMM as cash advance.

The DSWD Regional offices/DSWD-ARMM shall be responsible for the release of funds to the municipal government as well as monitoring the utilization of funds. As previously mentioned funds allocation shall be formalized through the signing of a MOA among the DSWD Regional offices, governors and mayors.

Actual release of funds, however, shall be contingent on the submission of a project proposal and other specifications as indicated in page 4 (in the case of Day Care Service) and page 5 (in the case of Supplemental Feeding) of this document. Proposals shall be prepared by the concerned people's organization with technical assistance from the MSWDOs. The municipal government shall endorse the proposals to the DSWD Regional offices for approval and subsequent release of funds.

D.        Project Implementation and Monitoring - The municipal government, with technical assistance from the DSWD Regional offices and PSWDOs shall be responsible for implementing PAF-2 projects.

The DSWD Regional offices and PSWDOs shall jointly conduct, at least, quarterly site-inspections of the projects and report the accomplishments of these projects to the DSWD Central Office which shall turn, in turn, forward the report to the SRC PAF-2 Oversight Committee. For this purpose, the DSWD Central Office shall allocate and release part of the overhead cost to their Regional offices.

Adopted: 28 April 1997

Approved by:

(SGD.) SEC. LINA B. LAIGO
SRA-CIDSS Flagship Champion
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