Effective Child Welfare Institutions in Uganda: Prerequisite Organisational and Systems Attributes

Abstract

This article presents a review of the organisational and systems attributes that contribute to effective child welfare institutions in Uganda. The review was motivated by a baseline study of 29 child welfare institutions in Uganda which established that the institutions were generally not effective owing to the compromised quality of the services and care they give to children. The aim of this study is to broadly examine the characteristics of an effective organisation and systems of child welfare, specifically from an institutional perspective, in order to inform practice and contribute to promoting professional care of children in Uganda. The review was premised on organisational and systems theories. The review revealed that there are many organisational and systems characteristics that a child welfare institution should exhibit if it is to provide effective services to children. These characteristics are embedded within internal and external institutional processes. It was also found that these processes have a direct effect on the organisational outputs and the welfare of the children. The findings are deemed applicable to all social work contexts in this globalising world, where the principles of social work practice are the same. Though the problem that motivated the review is Uganda-based, the citations are predominantly United States-based because, despite their own flaws, the US institutions provide a model for child welfare services globally.