Delineation of Agencies' Roles on the Management of Court-Related Cases ( DSWD Memorandum Circular No. 028-04 )
July 16, 2004
July 16, 2004
DSWD MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 028-04
| SUBJECT | : | Delineation of Agencies' Roles on the Management of Court-Related Cases |
I. RATIONALE
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Republic Act 7610 provide for the special protection of children and place social workers from various agencies with a vital role in the realization of the said provision. Likewise, the passage of the Local Government Code in 1991 and the enactment of several other significant laws and Supreme Court En Banc Resolutions for the past few years have further underscored their responsibilities in the promotion of the welfare of the disadvantaged population.
Through the devolution of the community-based programs and services to the LGUs and the expansion of similar functions to other social welfare agencies, the management of cases particularly those involving court litigation is no longer confined in the ambit of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. While this development promises greater access to the services provided by the mandated agencies, the same situation also weakens the accountability of social workers on responding to the cases they receive in view of other agencies they perceived as the ones responsible. This has further resulted to unnecessary endorsement of cases, and needless to say, delays in the provision of appropriate intervention to its clientele.
Thus, to keep abreast with the evolving role of the various agencies and the demand for effective and efficient delivery of services, the challenge to clarify the extent, boundaries and areas of collaboration among other agencies to the court-related cases has to be given serious consideration. cASIED
II. OBJECTIVES
1. To identify the specific tasks and responsibilities of social workers of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Family Courts (FC), City/Municipal Social Welfare and Development Offices (C/MSWDO), non-government organizations (NGO) and hospitals and define areas of collaboration and complementation of efforts in the management of court related cases.
2. To articulate specific tasks and responsibilities in a reference document as basis of action for the efficient management of court related cases.
III. MANDATE AND LEGAL BASES
1. PD 603 known as the "Child and Youth Welfare Code" defines the rights of children, the rights and liabilities of parents, and the role of the community, schools and religious institutions.
2. RA 7610 known as the "Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse Exploitation and Discrimination" as amended by the Republic Act 7658.
3. RA 8369 known as the "Family Courts Act of 1997" designates the Family Court Social Workers to provide appropriate social services to all juveniles and family cases falling within the jurisdiction of the Family Court.
4. RA 8552 known as the "Domestic Adoption Act of 1998."
5. RA 7160 known as the "Local Government Code" provides for the devolution of basic services to the Local Government Units.
6. Supreme Court En Banc Resolution dated April 15, 2002 "Proposed Rule on Juveniles in Conflict with the Law" provides for procedure for the disposition of criminal cases filed against minors in the court.
7. Supreme Court En Banc Resolution dated April 15, 2002 re: Rule on Commitment of Children. cDCSET
8. Supreme Court En Banc Resolution dated September 2000 re: Clarifying the Duties of the Social Workers of the Family Courts or Regional Trial Courts under the Family Courts Act of 1997.
9. Executive Order No. 56 "Authorizing the Ministry of Social Services and Development to Take Protective Custody of Child Prostitutes and Sexually Exploited Children, and for Other Purposes."
10. Supreme Court Administrative Order No. 04-2002 provides for a special treatment of minor detainees and jail decongestion.
11. DSWD Administrative Order 138 Series of 2002 re: Guidelines in the Accreditation of Social Workers Managing Court Related Cases.
12. Rules of Court in the Philippines with Notes and Comments, Ruperto G. Martin, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, 1986.
13. Executive Order 221 Amending Executive Order No. 15 Series of 1998, entitled "Redirecting the Functions and Operations of the Department of Social Welfare and Development."
IV. SPECIFIC TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF CONCERNED IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES
The following tasks required in the management of court-related cases are hereby identified and demarcated as the responsibility of the designated implementing agencies with the legal provisions as their sources of authority.
These cases include involuntary commitment of an abandoned/neglected child, adoption, legal guardianship/custody, child abuse and exploitation, management of children in conflict with the law, annulment and habeas corpus.
| Court Related Cases | DSWD | Family | LGU- | Licensed | Hospitals/ | ||||
| Court | M/CSWDO | NGOs | Clinics | ||||||
| (FC) | |||||||||
| 1. | Involuntary Commitment of an | ||||||||
| Abandoned/Neglected Child | |||||||||
| A. | File a verified petition for | / | / | ||||||
| involuntary commitment of | DSWD | Executive | |||||||
| a child who appears to be | Secretary or | Director | |||||||
| dependent, abandoned | authorized | ||||||||
| and neglected under the | representative | (SC No. | |||||||
| care of a licensed/accredited | (PD 603 | 04-2002 | |||||||
| child caring/child placement | Article 142) | Sec. 4a, PD | |||||||
| agency/DSWD centers and | 603 Article | ||||||||
| institutions | 142) | ||||||||
| • | Secure incident report | / | / | / | |||||
| from PNP based on | |||||||||
| Police blotter for cases | |||||||||
| directly handled | |||||||||
| • | Locate biological parent/s | / | / | / | / | ||||
| of child in their respective | |||||||||
| areas and through media | |||||||||
| announcements for 3 | |||||||||
| consecutive months | |||||||||
| • | Forward to DSWD case | / | / | ||||||
| study, birth/foundling | (if abandon- | ||||||||
| certificate, tri-media | ment | ||||||||
| certifications, affidavit of | occurred in | ||||||||
| finder as required by RSCC | the LGU) | ||||||||
| clinical abstract and other | |||||||||
| supporting documents | |||||||||
| required for filing petition for | |||||||||
| involuntary commitment of a | |||||||||
| child | |||||||||
| • | Referral of abandoned | / | / | / | / | / | |||
| children to the DSWD or | (PD 603 | ||||||||
| licensed Child | Article 161) | ||||||||
| Caring/Placing NGOs | |||||||||
| • | Appear in Court Hearings | / | / | / | / (as | ||||
| witness) | |||||||||
| • | Ensure attendance of | / | / | ||||||
| PAO/Legal Counsel | |||||||||
| • | Ensure appearance of | / | / | ||||||
| custodian-PAPS and | |||||||||
| subject child cCAIaD | |||||||||
| • | Provide copy petition to | / | / | ||||||
| OSG/PAO | |||||||||
| 2. | Adoption | ||||||||
| A. | Pre-Adoption Services | (RA 8552) | |||||||
| (Section 4) | |||||||||
| • | Provide pre-adoption | / | / | / | / | ||||
| services including | (IRR | (KBF) | |||||||
| counseling through | Section 4, as | ||||||||
| professionally trained | authorized by | ||||||||
| social workers | the DSWD) | ||||||||
| • | Provide Technical | / | |||||||
| Assistance to | |||||||||
| MSWDOs/Court and NGOs | |||||||||
| Social Workers | |||||||||
| B. | Regular Adoption | ||||||||
| • | Conduct adoption forum for | / | / | / | |||||
| Prospective Adoptive Parents | (IRR | (KBF) | |||||||
| (PAPs) | Section 4 | ||||||||
| no. 2) | |||||||||
| • | Secure voluntary | / | / | / | |||||
| commitment or process | (for | ||||||||
| declaration of abandonment | voluntary | ||||||||
| in court | commitment) | ||||||||
| • | Refer to DSWD or NGO | / | / | / | / | ||||
| (KBF) PAPs who directly | (NGOs | ||||||||
| apply to them for adoption, | other than | ||||||||
| if necessary | KBF) | ||||||||
| • | Process adoption following | / | / | / | / | ||||
| the legal process | (KBF) | ||||||||
| • | Conduct of matching | / | / | ||||||
| conference | (IRR | ||||||||
| Section 19) | |||||||||
| • | Provide Pre/Post-Adoption | / | / | / | / | ||||
| Services | (IRR | (KBF) | |||||||
| Section 32) | |||||||||
| C. | Relative Adoption/Independent | AM No. 00- | |||||||
| Placement | 8-03 SC | ||||||||
| If application filed at | |||||||||
| DSWD/FC/NGOs: | |||||||||
| • | Handle cases referred | / | / | / | |||||
| • | Secure voluntary commitment | / | / | / | |||||
| process declaration of | |||||||||
| abandonment in court | |||||||||
| • | Conduct child case study and | / | / | / | / | ||||
| home study of the adoptive | (RA 8552, | ||||||||
| family | Section 11) | ||||||||
| (same legal procedures with | |||||||||
| regular adoption except that | |||||||||
| they no longer go through the | |||||||||
| matching process since child | |||||||||
| has already been identified) | |||||||||
| • | Request for home study | / | / | / | / | ||||
| report of PAPs living abroad | (RA 8552, | ||||||||
| through the Intercountry | IRR Section | ||||||||
| Adoption Board (ICAB) to | 14) | ||||||||
| form part of the report | |||||||||
| of the Social Worker to the | |||||||||
| court | |||||||||
| • | Refer cases to DSWD-Field | / | / | / | |||||
| Office/FC for filing | |||||||||
| • | Request consent for adoption | / | / | / | / | ||||
| • | Attend court hearings | / | / | / | / | ||||
| D. | Post Adoption Services | ||||||||
| • | Provide post adoption services | / | / | / | / | ||||
| to the adoptee, adopter and | (RA 8552 | (KBF) | |||||||
| the biological parents which | Section 3) | ||||||||
| shall include counseling | |||||||||
| among others | |||||||||
| 3. | Legal Guardianship/Custody | ||||||||
| A. | If filed with FC: | (PD 603 | |||||||
| Article 152, | |||||||||
| SC Rule) | |||||||||
| • | Conduct home/child study | / | / | ||||||
| on child/legal | |||||||||
| guardian/custodian. | |||||||||
| • | Conduct monitoring/follow-up | / | / | / | |||||
| visits to the child as directed | |||||||||
| by the court | |||||||||
| • | Court appearance | / | / | / | |||||
| • | Court appoints | ||||||||
| guardian/custodian of the | / | ||||||||
| child | |||||||||
| 4. | Child Abuse and Exploitation Cases | ||||||||
| A. | Reporting | (RA 7610 | |||||||
| IRR Section | |||||||||
| 3) | |||||||||
| • | Report to DSWD or any similar | / | / | / | / | / | |||
| agency of local government | |||||||||
| units all incidents of possible child | |||||||||
| abuse cases | |||||||||
| B. | Investigation | (IRRV | |||||||
| Section 8) | |||||||||
| • | Conduct of visit not later | / | / | / | / | ||||
| than 48 hours to the place | |||||||||
| where the reported abuse | |||||||||
| happened to determine the | |||||||||
| need of removing the child | |||||||||
| from the abusive environment | |||||||||
| C. | Rescue and Protective Custody | (RA 7610 | |||||||
| Article XI) | |||||||||
| • | Immediately remove the | / | / | / | |||||
| child from his home or the | (Section 28) | ||||||||
| establishment where he/she | |||||||||
| was found if the investigation | |||||||||
| discloses sexual abuse, | |||||||||
| serious physical injury or life- | |||||||||
| threatening neglect of the | |||||||||
| child, and place him/her in | |||||||||
| a licensed foster home or | |||||||||
| accredited child caring | |||||||||
| agency or in DSWD centers | |||||||||
| and institutions | |||||||||
| • | In cases where child does not | / | / | / | |||||
| have a family, whoever is the | (RA 7610 | ||||||||
| custodian, shall file for in | section 28) | ||||||||
| protective custody | |||||||||
| • | Refer to DSWD for protective | / | / | / | / | ||||
| custody of child, if LGU/NGO | |||||||||
| has no facility/center | |||||||||
| • | Accept referral from LGU or | / | / | / | |||||
| NGO for protective custody | |||||||||
| of a child victim | |||||||||
| D. | Notification of Police | ||||||||
| • | Notify/inform the police or | / | / | / | |||||
| other law enforcement | (IRR | ||||||||
| agency whenever a child | Section 11) | ||||||||
| victim is placed under | |||||||||
| protective custody | |||||||||
| E. | Physical/Mental Examination | ||||||||
| • | Refer child to a government | / (IRR | / | / | / | / | |||
| medical or health officer and | Section | ||||||||
| medico-legal unit of the | 12) | ||||||||
| hospital or NBI for | |||||||||
| physical/mental examination | |||||||||
| and/or medical treatment | |||||||||
| F. | Involuntary Commitment | ||||||||
| • | File a petition for involuntary | / | / | / | |||||
| commitment of the child | (IRR | (facilitate) | |||||||
| victim if applicable | Section 13) | ||||||||
| • | Request the Court to | / | / | / | / | / | |||
| suspend the parental | (RA 7610 | ||||||||
| authority of the parent | Section 27) | ||||||||
| or lawful guardian who | |||||||||
| abused the child victim | |||||||||
| G. | Filing of Complaint | ||||||||
| • | Refer child and family to | / | / | / | / | / | |||
| a lawyer if the family decides | |||||||||
| to pursue filing of charges | |||||||||
| • | File a complaint against | / | / | / | / | / | |||
| perpetrator | (RA 7610 | ||||||||
| Section 16) | |||||||||
| H. | Provision of Social Work | (RA 7160, | |||||||
| Intervention | IRR Article | ||||||||
| 25) | |||||||||
| • | Provision of the appropriate | / | / | / | / | / | |||
| rehabilitation services to child | (RA 7610 | (in case | |||||||
| and his/her family | Article II | there is a | |||||||
| Section 4) | CPU) | ||||||||
| • | Organize support groups of | / | / | / | / | / | |||
| victims | (EO 56 | ||||||||
| Section 2) | |||||||||
| • | Ensure child's appearance | / | / | / | / | / | |||
| during court hearing | (CPU | ||||||||
| clients) | |||||||||
| • | Provide after care services to | / | / | / | |||||
| child and his/her family | |||||||||
| • | Organize advocacy activities | / | / | / | / | ||||
| to disseminate laws related to | |||||||||
| child abuse | |||||||||
| • | Organize community-based | / | / | / | |||||
| strategies to prevent child | |||||||||
| abuse. | |||||||||
| 5. | Management of Children in Conflict | ||||||||
| with the Law | |||||||||
| A. | Establish and maintain Regional | / | / | ||||||
| Rehabilitation Centers for Youth | (PD 603, | (RA 8369 | |||||||
| and (RRCY) Detention Homes | Article 202 | Section 8 | |||||||
| (DH) | for RRCY) | for DH) | |||||||
| B. | Mediation and Diversion Services | (CICL-AM | |||||||
| No. 02-1- | |||||||||
| 18-SC) | |||||||||
| • | Community Level | ||||||||
| a. | Initial intake | / | / | / | / | ||||
| b. | Contact parents | / | / | / | / | ||||
| c. | Provide parent-child | / | / | / | / | ||||
| counseling | |||||||||
| d. | Facilitate amicable | / | / | / | / | ||||
| settlement | |||||||||
| e. | Implement/supervise | / | / | / | / | ||||
| diversion services | |||||||||
| • | Court Level | ||||||||
| a. | Conduct progress/case | / | / | / | / | ||||
| study report on the | (when there | (with | |||||||
| juvenile | are no FCs | detention | |||||||
| and as | homes and | ||||||||
| directed by | when there | ||||||||
| the Court) | are no FCs) | ||||||||
| b. | Conduct parent-child | / | / | / | / | ||||
| counseling | |||||||||
| c. | Submit preliminary written | / | / | / | / | ||||
| report to FC | |||||||||
| d. | Implement/supervise the | / | |||||||
| diversion program | |||||||||
| C. | Release on Recognizance (ROR) | (AM No. | |||||||
| 02-1-18- | |||||||||
| SC) | |||||||||
| • | Conduct jail visit/Monitor | / | / | / | |||||
| minors detained in jail | (SC AO, No. | (SC AO, | (SC AO, No. | ||||||
| 04-2002) | No. 04- | 04-2002) | |||||||
| 2002) | |||||||||
| • | Recommend for ROR based | / | / | / | |||||
| on the Social Case Study | (PD 603 | ||||||||
| Report | Article 191) | ||||||||
| • | Coordinate with PAO re: filing | / | / | / | |||||
| for ROR | |||||||||
| • | Conduct/participate in case | / | / | / | / | ||||
| conference re: disposition | when | ||||||||
| on the court order | necessary | ||||||||
| • | Provide social and medical | / | / | / | / | / | |||
| services | |||||||||
| • | Supervision of minor while on | / | / | / | |||||
| ROR | |||||||||
| • | Ensure minor's appearance | / | / | / | |||||
| during court hearing and | (PD 603 | ||||||||
| provide necessary services | Article 191) | ||||||||
| • | Continuously coordinate with | / | / | / | |||||
| PAO after filing of ROR | |||||||||
| D. | Suspended Sentence | ||||||||
| (Center-Based) | |||||||||
| • | Submit quarterly reports to | / | / | ||||||
| the court regarding behavior | (Article 195 | ||||||||
| of minor and recommends | PD 603) | ||||||||
| discharge of minor once | |||||||||
| he/she completed the | |||||||||
| rehabilitation program | |||||||||
| • | Provide support services to | / | / | / | |||||
| families while undergoing | |||||||||
| rehabilitation at the center in | |||||||||
| preparation for the return of | |||||||||
| minor | |||||||||
| • | Provide aftercare services; | / | |||||||
| submit quarterly report within | [RA 7160 | ||||||||
| one year to DSWD | Section 17 | ||||||||
| (2) IV] | |||||||||
| • | Maintain record of the minor | / | / | / | / | / | |||
| for future reference | |||||||||
| E. | Custody Supervision | ||||||||
| (Community-Based) | |||||||||
| • | Prepare SCSR for custody | / | / | / | |||||
| supervision | |||||||||
| • | Manage the case and | / | / | / | |||||
| provide community | [RA 7160 | ||||||||
| rehabilitation services | Section 17 | ||||||||
| (2) IV] | |||||||||
| • | Submit quarterly report to | / | / | / | |||||
| committing court and | |||||||||
| recommend closure of the | |||||||||
| case once the minor | |||||||||
| completed the rehabilitation | |||||||||
| program | |||||||||
| • | Provide support services to | / | / | / | |||||
| families while minor is on | |||||||||
| custody supervision | |||||||||
| • | Ensure minor's records are | / | |||||||
| sealed | |||||||||
| 6. | Annulment | Alternative | |||||||
| social | |||||||||
| service | |||||||||
| A. | Upon receipt of court order and | ||||||||
| petition for annulment | |||||||||
| • | Send letter to respondent and | / | / | ||||||
| petitioner for office interview | |||||||||
| • | Conduct counseling and home | / | / | ||||||
| visit to both petitioner and | |||||||||
| respondent | |||||||||
| • | Submit SCSR to committing | / | / | ||||||
| court | |||||||||
| • | Appearance in court | / | / | ||||||
| 7. | Habeas Corpus | / | / | / |
V. INTER-AGENCY RELATIONS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF CASES
By virtue of the devolution of the basic services to the local government units, the DSWD's functions shifted from direct service delivery to the provision of technical assistance. However, the DSWD is mandated to implement statutory and specialized programs and services, which were not devolved or localized. These include the residential and center-based programs and services implemented in the DSWD Regional Offices nationwide, new social welfare and development projects and strategies being piloted/demonstrated, regular programs involving special social services and management of court related cases, as per existing laws and crisis intervention.
Thus, it can be gleaned from the matrix that management of court related cases is performed similarly by other organizations/institutions aside from DSWD as the primary agency. The entry point of intervention by an organization depends on where the client has first sought the assistance. There are instances however, where services by an organization need to interface with other organizations in order to foster collaboration and complementation of efforts for a more wholistic intervention and efficient case management. This is true for the cases involving request for the necessary documents of the child, referrals to acquire a particular service such as medical and legal services among others and the endorsement of cases for continuous management as in the cases of protective custody and after care services.
All concerned agencies, should, however respond to the case immediately and make the mandated programs and services available to their offices with the maximum use of their resources. The inter-agency relationships of the concerned implementing agencies can further be gleaned on the management of the following cases:
1. Involuntary Commitment of an Abandoned/Neglected Child
Cases for involuntary commitment can be filed by the DSWD and the NGO (by virtue of the Rule on the Commitment of Children) when the parent or person entrusted with the care and custody of the child is unable to perform his/her duties and refuses to place the child with the DSWD. The LGU and hospital social workers on the other hand are expected to complement the efforts of the said agencies especially if the referral comes from their offices.
To ensure that NGOs are processing the Declaration of Abandonment of children under their care, the following measures shall be undertaken by the DSWD:
• The licensed/accredited agencies shall submit a monthly inventory of cases of children under their care to DSWD — Field Offices where they operate, copy furnished Social Technology Bureau.
• DSWD Field Office shall monitor every quarter cases served by the child caring NGO for provision of technical assistance based on the submitted case inventory taking into consideration the movement of each cases. Further, the DSWD Field Offices shall conduct review of program implementation of NGOs to assess and identify difficulties, problem areas and recommend action.
• On-site/project visit on quarterly basis shall be done by the Standards Bureau, Program Management Bureau or the Social Technology Bureau depending on the concern in order to verify/validate reports/documents submitted by program implementors. CacHES
• DSWD shall provide capability building to social workers of NGO to ensure movement of cases is not hampered by limited knowledge and skills of social worker in case management particularly the processing of Declaration of Abandonment cases.
• The NGO shall accomplish/submit a separate caseload inventory of children who have had no contact with parents for six months or over and action taken by the agency in order to monitor and ensure that children are not institutionalized and that they are not deprived of a family.
2. Adoption
For both regular and relative adoption, DSWD, LGU, Family Courts and NGO through KBF should independently process the cases. The role of the Hospital is only to refer cases to the mandated organization. The technical assistance of the DSWD to the LGUs shall however be ensured considering that the latter has not undertaken this function yet since the approval of the Republic Act 8552. The said law contains the adoption mandates to the implementing agencies, which include the LGUs.
3. Legal Guardianship/Custody
The DSWD and the FCs are the two primary agencies catering to the legal guardianship and custody cases. The LGUs undertake support functions such as court appearances and the conduct of monitoring/follow-up visits to the child as directed by the court.
4. Child Abuse and Exploitation Cases
There are several tasks undertaken to respond to the child abuse and exploitation cases: reporting, investigation, notification of the police, referral to government hospital and medico-legal unit, filing for involuntary commitment and filing of the complaint and protective custody. Along these functions, the DSWD, LGUs and NGOs are the principal implementing agencies with the hospital social workers undertaking support functions.
For the conduct of rescue operations on child abuse cases, any social worker from the four agencies, depending again on where the client or concerned citizen first sought assistance should be part of the rescue team primarily to receive the rescued children for the provision of immediate protection and psychosocial intervention. NGO (excluding Bantay Bata 163) social workers should however, work in coordination with the DSWD or LGU social worker since they have no "immunity in administrative and civil liability" while doing the operation. They can however apply for deputation to the DSWD like the Bantay-Bata 163 Foundation to enjoy the same provision. For syndicated or large scale child exploitation (e.g. child labor and prostitution of children) the social worker will only act as the receiving party of the rescued children for recovery and healing. The law enforcement group will be at the forefront of said operation. cHSIDa
5. Management of Children in Conflict with the Law
Among the agencies, DSWD and LGU cover most of the tasks needed in the provision of services for children in conflict with the law particularly on the mediation and diversion, release on recognizance, suspended sentence and custody supervision. FCs and NGOs become among the lead agencies when it comes to the mediation and diversion services for both agencies and ROR for the former and suspended sentence for the latter.
6. Annulment
Both FC and the DSWD with the latter having it as an alternative or secondary social service function solely respond to the annulment cases.
7. Habeas Corpus
As provided by the Rules of Court in the Philippines, not all implementing agencies have the authority to file a petition for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus. Thus, only those agencies that have legal custody over the person can file a petition in their behalf such as DSWDs by virtue of its mandate on the licensed caring or child placement agency and for selected Local Government Units with residential facilities for children.
VI. EFFECTIVITY
This memorandum circular takes effect immediately and supercedes previous issuances inconsistent herewith.
Signed this 16th of July, 2004 in Quezon City.
(SGD.) CORAZON JULIANO-SOLIMANSecretaryDepartment of Social Welfare and Development