Vision statement

A society where children become responsible citizens through fulfillment of their prescribed rights and welfare

Mission statement

To safeguard the rights and welfare of all children in Kenya through implementation of relevant policies, coordination, supervision and delivery of services.

Functions

• Provision of child welfare services through conducting social inquiries, preparing and presenting court reports in the best interest of the child.
• Provision of counseling and guidance to children and their families and enforcing orders made by courts of Law.
• Management and supervision of Statutory Children Rehabilitation Schools, Rescue Institutions and the Children Remand Homes.
• Supervision, inspection and facilitation of the registration of Charitable Children Institutions and programmes in order to safeguard and promote the welfare of children admitted therein.
• Facilitation of Adoption, Foster Care, and guardianship of children.
• Coordination of services provision by partners and other stakeholders in the children sector
• Provision of basic needs and skills to children in statutory children’s  institutions
• Rehabilitation and reintegration of Child Offenders into the community.
• Secretariat to the National Council for Children’s Services (NCCS) according to the Children Act.
• Supervision of both statutory and non-statutory rescue institutions and programmes.
• Appointment of approved officers according to the Children Act, 2001.

There are 830 Charitable Children’s Institutions (CCIs) in the country. CCI regulations were gazetted by the Minister in 2005 which required the institutions to register with the Department. However, due to constrained personnel and other resources in the field officers, only 347 CCIs have been registered. The registration expires after three years.

In 2005/06 60,000 cases of children were reported to district children offices as being in need of care and protection. Annually over 60,000 cases of children are reported to the District Children’s offices as being in need of care and protection.

The department is actively involved in combating all forms of violence including child trafficking both locally and internationally through the formation of the National steering committee on trafficking in persons, development of National Plan of Action and the draft bill on trafficking in persons as well as carrying out investigations and rescue missions to trafficked children.

A pilot study carried out in 2006 at the coast region showed that about 1,500 children were being commercially sexually exploited and offering sexual services to both local and foreign tourists on a daily basis. (GoK/UNICEF Study, 2006). Some of these children come from other parts of the country in search of livelihood and as such, the Government has introduced a code of conduct for the hospitality industry as a measure of containing this vice and the tourist police and taxi operators have been sensitized.

The Department currently runs ten children rehabilitation schools, twelve children’s remand homes and three children rescue centers.
The remand homes handled 1490, 3224 and 3340 in 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively. On the other hand the children rehabilitation schools handled 2362, 1164 and 2490 in 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively.  According to country response to the CRC committee 44th  Session 5113 children were involved in crime in 2005,out of these only 3,500 were handled by our institutions due to capacity constraints.

In these institutions there are various rehabilitation programmes. These programmes were carried over from the colonialists and have no value in an ever changing society.  In this regard, the Department has started a new reform programme to address this.With the assistance of the local Japan International Co-operation Agency(JICA),new programmes such as bakery and soap making have been introduced on a pilot basis

The children rescue centers are currently handling 1200 children in 2008 including internally displaced children. These are delicate children who need specialized care and support e.g food, medical, clothing, milk, and psyco-social support by qualified staff.

The Department has set up an Adoption secretariat and has facilitated the registration of 5 local societies and 15 foreign Adoption agencies. The number of both local and international adoptions has been 125, 178 and 225 in 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively. Kenya acceded to the Hague Convention on the protection of children and international Adoptions 1993.
Over 2.4 million children are orphaned, majority of them as a result of HIV/AIDS among other factors, in absence of support, these children engage in child labour, sex tourism, early marriages and some live and work in the streets, beg, engage in drug and substance abuse, trafficking-small arms, mugging, theft etc.


A Cash Transfer Programme was introduced by the Government and partners in 2004. Subsequently, the Government allocated Kshs 48m in 2005/06 financial year which has since been increased to 169M in 2007/08 financial year covering 8,280 households in 30 districts and this is projected to rise to Kshs500m in 2008/09 financial year targeting about 30,000 households. It is projected that by 2012,a total of 100,000 households will receive support estimated at Kshs2 billion.

In 2004,a total of 500 children in 500 households were being supported through the cash transfer programme representing a 0.3% coverage of OVCs.In 2007,2,500 households were reached representing a 0.125% coverage. In 2008, 13,280 households are being reached through the Government and partners and this will be a 0.5% coverage. By the end of this strategic plan, we hope to reach 30,000 households to attain a 1.25% coverage.

Challenges,difficulties and obstacles

• Inadequate funding
• Internally Displaced Children
• Shortage of personnel especially at the institutions
• Inadequate resources both financial and human to  open stations in newly created districts
• Cases of child abuse, neglect, abandonment are on the increase.
• Poverty at family level hampering child growth, development and protection
• Harmful cultural practices such as female genital mutilation, child labour,early marriages amongst others
• Mushrooming of unregulated Charitable Children’s Institutions
• Increased number of Orphans and Vulnerable Children's Office
• Erosion of family values
• Lack of own offices in most districts
• Commercial Sexual exploitation of children
• Child sexual tourism
• Exposure of children to pornography
• Children in conflict with the law