Guidelines for the Accreditation of Supervised Neighborhood Play

December 27, 2012

DSWD ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 018-12

 

I. Introduction

Supervised Neighborhood Play (SNP) is an alternative strategy for local government units to respond to the early learning needs of children 2-4 years old who are not able to avail of ECCD center-based services since this is a home-based early childhood service. SNP utilizes play as an approach in providing stimulation activities that are developmentally appropriate for each target ages of children in the community. This is to provide children with early learning opportunities to develop throughout his/her early childhood as it helps them develop friendships, skills, social values, self-confidence, self-respect, and self-expression through unstructured time for play and socializing. 1

On the other hand, the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program in the Philippines known as Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program has included the attendance of children 3 to 4 years old to Day Care Service as one of its conditionalities. Because of this, the number of children in day care centers ballooned. However, it has to be noted that locations of most of the day care centers in our country are located in the centers of the towns and/or barangays. Likewise, it has to be considered that most of the Pantawid Pamilya areas are located in far flung parts wherein most of the Local Government Units (LGUs) cannot afford to build additional Day Care Centers from what they have at present. Since the supply side for Day Care Service is sorely lacking, the children in these areas have been attending the SNP because it is practical, doable and cost-effective service as sessions of SNP can be held in a close or open space, or even a mobile one, as long as it is suitable for the conduct of informal early learning activities through play. Hence, it helps augment the ECCD service in these places. TIEHDC

Aside from these far flung areas, SNP has also become an alternative early childhood care and development service in conflict affected areas. Instead of holding sessions in a specific center, the LGUs have adopted SNP so they can be more flexible and thus changing areas/place is easier whenever the situation calls for it.

In times of disasters, the SNP program is also conducted in the evacuation centers to promote the well-being of children by providing them various enrichment activities. In so doing, routine activities is established which lessen their trauma as a result of the calamity they have experienced.

However, to ensure that the learning development of the children are given attention, vis-à-vis the goal of attendance to ECCD Service by these children as a conditionality is fulfilled, standards in the implementation of SNP has to be set conditionality is fulfilled, standards in the implementation of SNP has to be set. Although Administrative Order 12 s 2008 otherwise known as Standards for Home Based ECCD Programs (for Children below 6 years old) and its accreditation tool is already existing, it was deemed necessary by the Bureau to formulate standards and an accreditation tool specifically for the 3rd model of Home-Based ECCD which is Parent to Other Children.

The accreditation tool for SNP would hopefully ensure that the activities SNP children would receive or experience are of quality and within standard. CHTAIc

II. Mandate and Legal Bases

The Department draws its authority to accredit SNP Sites and SNP Workers from the following:

1. Presidential Decree No. 603 (1974) — the Child and Youth Welfare Code Title II Article 6 — "The Day Care Service and other substitute parental arrangements shall be provided to a child whose parents and relatives are not able to care for him/her during the day. Such arrangement shall be subjected to accreditation and licensing by the Department of Social Welfare." IDCcEa

2. Republic Act No. 6972 (1990) — Barangay Total Development and Protection of Children Act, Section 5 (a) — "The Department of Social Welfare and Development shall formulate the criteria for the selection, qualifications, training and accreditation of day care workers and the standards for the implementation of the total development and protection of children program."

3. Republic Act No. 7160 or Local Government Code of 1991 — Article 24 states that the "LGU shall be responsible for a set of services and facilities in accordance with established national policies, guidelines and standards."

4. Executive Order No. 340 series of 1997 — Directing National Government Agencies and Government Owned and Controlled Corporations to Provide Day Care Services for their Employees' Children under Five Years of Age, Section 3 Lead Agency (4) ". . . the DSWD is tasked to license and accredit the services, facilities and day care workers."

5. Executive Order No. 221 series of 2003 — Amending Executive Order No. 15 series of 1998, Redirecting the Functions and Operations of DSWD which states that to accomplish its roles and functions the Department shall "Set the standards, accredit and provide consultative services to public and private institutions, organizations and persons engaged in social welfare activities, and monitor performance and compliance to standards by institutions, organizations and persons engaged in social welfare activities both public and private." DSATCI

6. Republic Act 8980 (2000) — also known as the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Act which provides under its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) as mentioned in Section 27, Specific Roles and Responsibilities of DSWD that it shall "Register, license and accredit public and private ECCD centers, programs and service providers catering to children below 5 years of age."

7. Executive Order No. 685 (2008) — also known as Expanding the Preschool Coverage to Include Children Enrolled in Day Care Centers which states that "preschool experiences provide the essential stimulation needed by 5 year old children to become ready for formal schooling in Grade 1, thus should be expanded to reach all children aged 5 years old, with first priority to reaching those children least likely to enter school or most likely to drop out or repeat in Grades 1-3."

III. Objectives

Generally, the objective of the guideline is to ensure that the objectives of SNP written in the SNP Manual published by the Social Technology Bureau are achieved.

Specifically, the objectives of this accreditation tool are as follows:

1. Ensure that the best interest of the child is considered in all aspects of the implementation of SNP.

2. Ensure that what is provided to the children attending SNP is within the set standard.

IV. Coverage and Applicability

This guideline applies to all Supervised Neighborhood Play sites operated by the following:

1. Local Government Units (LGUs);

2. Social Welfare and Development Agencies (SWDAs);

3. Private individuals;

4. Or supported by the National Government Agencies (NGAs) or Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs).

V. General Policies

1. The C/MSWDO and Field Offices will follow the entire accreditation process and the Terms of Reference/Institutional Arrangements of this guideline.

2. The accreditation of the SNP and SNP Worker is not interdependent with each other. However, if the SNP site passes while the SNP Worker fails, both will not be accredited. Separate certificates shall be awarded to the accredited SNP site and SNP Worker.

3. If on the first visit for the accreditation the SNP and/or SNP Worker do not meet the minimum standards, they will be given four (4) months to comply with all the other requirements needed in the work areas where they have failed.

4. The SNP that will pass the accreditation process shall have Certificate of Accreditation issued by the Field Offices which shall have a validity period of three (3) years. Three star rating will be given to the SNP site for achieving the minimum standards required. cHAIES

5. The SNP Worker who will pass the accreditation will be awarded Certificate of Accreditation and an Identification Card issued by the Field Offices which shall have a validity period of three (3) years. The Worker will receive a 3 Star rating for being Competent.

6. The presence or absence of the indicators are determined through a review of documents (document review or DR), interview with the various stakeholders (I), and observation of a session or sessions in the ECCD centers (O).

7. To promote the use of this guideline, continuous conduct of orientation, advocacy, capability building and technical assistance to NGAs, GOCCs, LGUs, SWDAs, POs, and private individuals shall be included in the list of priority activities of the Field Offices. EIcSDC

VI. Standards

There are five areas wherein the standards would focus on as follows:

A. Advancement of Children's Growth and Development

The advancement of children's growth and development is the primary objective of SNP Service. SNP Workers are tasked to facilitate children's progress in all aspects of development. This is achieved through the following:

1. Assessment of children that provides the SNP Workers with a thorough knowledge about each child in their care;

2. Integration of health, nutrition, and other complementary services; and

3. Utilization of a developmentally appropriate curriculum for young children.

B. Partnership with Families, Communities and Local Government

Partnership with families, community and local government indicates that a high quality ECCD program is the result of the shared responsibility among parents and members of the families, SNP Workers, community members, organizations, and the local government unit. IDaEHC

C. Human Resource Development (HRD)

HRD refers to the recruitment and hiring; training and development; competencies and continuing education of the SNP Worker; supervision and conditions of employment that are part of the management and administration of the ECCD program.

D. Program Management

This section refers to planning and budgeting, implementation, supervision, monitoring and evaluation, management information system and financial management of the program that ensures the high standard of service delivery to the children.

All projects and activities must be responsive to the needs of the children, appropriate resources are allocated and utilized efficiently to achieve the goal of effectively managing the SNP Service which is to seek the continuous improvement of program delivery so that the needs of children and families are met, and that program staff are supported in their efforts. cADEHI

E. Physical Environment and Safety

This refers to giving of importance to child-friendliness of the location, the indoor and outdoor environments of the center and the ensuing quality and safety measures that are critical in protecting and promoting children's holistic development.

It shall conform to the basic safety standards and program requirements for the day to day activities of the children.

VII. Terms of Reference/Institutional Arrangements:

1. Provincial/Municipal/City Social Welfare and Development Office (P/M/CSWDO) and/or Social Welfare and Development Agency (SWDA)

a. Provide information to Field Office (FO) the SNP sites they have established.

b. Assist the SNP Worker prepare for the accreditation.

c. Along with the SNP Worker, they shall coordinate with all the stakeholders concerned i.e., Parents Committee (or its equivalent for the Private and SWDAs) BECCDCC or BCPC or Sangguniang Barangay (SB) at least two weeks before the actual visit of the Accreditor. They will be informed of the following:

i. purpose of visit;

ii. that the SNP Worker will be observed during actual session;

iii. that they will be interviewed by the Accreditors;

iv. that they will have to prepare and make available pertinent documents during the actual visit.

d. Conduct the first visit to assess the preparedness of the SNP for accreditation.

e. Provide technical assistance and other assistance needed by the SNP Worker for the accreditation.

f. If based on their assessment the SNP is already prepared for accreditation, they will inform their respective DSWD Field Office about it. cTIESD

g. If the SNP has failed the accreditation, they will assist the SNP, not only with the provision of technical assistance but with other forms of assistance as well, until they have met or have complied with the standards indicator they have failed to comply.

2. Field Office

a. To prepare and keep the database of all SNP sites under their jurisdiction.

b. Train existing Day Care Accreditors to become SNP Accreditors as well and thus re-naming them DSWD-ECCD Accreditors.

c. Upon receipt of information from P/C/MSWDO or SWDA, Field Office will be responsible in plotting the schedule of the accreditation of all the said SNP site/s.

d. Inform the P/M/CSWDO or SWDA of the name and when they will be visited by accreditor. cCAIDS

e. Issue Accreditation Certificate to the SNP Worker and SNP site and identification card for SNP Worker as well. (see annex 1, 2 and 3)

f. Monitor SNP Services in their Region.

g. Provide updated list of SNP sites in the region to Standards Bureau.

h. Provide subsidy for the ECCD accreditors.

3. Standards Bureau

a. Provide technical assistance to FOs/P/M/CSWDOs/SWDAs/CSOs along standards of SNP implementation.

b. Enhance existing guidelines that will improve service delivery on SNP.

c. Provide Field Offices additional subsidy for the accreditation of SNP. TaEIAS

4. Protective Services Bureau

a. Monitor the implementation of SNP Service.

b. Provide technical assistance to Field Offices in the implementation of SNP.

c. Maintain and update SNP database.

5. Information Communication Technology and Managements Service SHaATC

a. To ensure that SNP is included in the ECCD-IS.

VIII. Repealing Clause

This guideline supersedes the part in Administrative Order No. 12 s 2008 that discusses the third mode of Home-Based ECCD which is Parent to Other Children and its corresponding part also in its Accreditation Tool.

IX. Effectivity

This order shall take effect immediately.

Issued in Quezon City this 27th day of December 2012.

(SGD.) CORAZON JULIANO-SOLIMANSecretary

Footnotes

1. SNP Manual, DSWD 2011.

Attachments available upon request.