Social workers taught to deal with child stress

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Social Welfare and Development-7 gathered social workers and service providers from both government and non-government organizations in Central Visayas this week to introduce the Modified Social Stress Model in managing Children in Need of Social Protection.

Jaybee Binghay, DSWD-7 regional information officer, said that the United Nations’ Children Fund has reported on the increase in reported cases of children who are victims of sexual exploitation, abuse, child labor in hazardous condition as well as children in conflict with the law and children in armed conflict.

It is DSWD’s Social Technology Bureau that had introduced the new framework which is the MSSM.

Binghay said that MSSM is an assessment tool to know the individual needs or reasons of children why they engage in such conditions that are hazardous to their well-being.

She added that the social workers and other members of intervention team can formulate rehabilitation plan responsive to the identified specific need of each child.

Binghay reiterated that they also hope to transfer technology on the use of MSSM to the other social workers and service providers from the different DSWD operated and maintained centers.

Aside from that, they would also want to extend the spread to the institutions, selected local government units and licensed NGOs or NGAs and other technical persons.

DSWD would like to upgrade them on the different laws for social protection programs like clearance for Minors Traveling Abroad in order to mitigate human trafficking, Binghay said.