Cosultancy for Baseline Evaluation at Association of Charitable Children Institutions of Kenya

TERM OF REFERENCE FOR BASELINE EVALUATION

Project Profile

Project Name: Protection of children from family separation, abuse, neglect and exploitation in 15 counties in Kenya.

Project Aim: Promoting care and protection of children within their families and communities through capacity building, mobilization and communication on de-institutionalization and family/ alternative based care

Project Objective : Children in Need of Care and Protection are supported and protected within their communities. This will be realized by ensuring that there is a progressive paradigm shift in policy and practice from institutionalization of Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) to family based care/ alternative family care .

Location: 15 counties in Kenya

Project Period: April 2018- December 2020

Implementing Partner: The Association of Charitable Children Institutions of Kenya.

Project Context and Overview

Children without adequate parental care exist in every country. However, knowing exact number of such children remains problematic due to lack of data and hidden nature of abuse, neglect and exploitation. In Kenya, the government estimates that there are over 2.4m orphaned children due to various causes and 48,000 are assumed to be in formal alternative care (NPA 2015- 2022).

Vast majority of children not living with their parents are cared for under informal kinship care arrangement and Kenya is not exceptional. However, this practice is declining day by day as result of extensive economic and social changes. The formal family based care - foster care and adoption are not widely practiced in Kenya due to socio- cultural barriers that perceive them as western practices, existing myths and lack of awareness on procedures and required substantial qualified workforce to manage them among other factors. The predominant, quick and convenient child-care systems for Children in Need of Care and Protection (CNCP) in Kenya has been the institutionalization of vulnerable children at the expense of preventive assistance and support to the families at risk.

The international and regional legal framework on alternative care that has since been domesticated in Kenya provide for a universal acceptance that children ought to grow in family care setting in place of institutions. However, realities in Kenya show that many children continue to be separated from their families as result of increased vulnerability caused by high poverty level, precarious family situations and other classified high-risk factors that may be social, cultural, emotional and political. At the highest risk of vulnerability continues to be children with special needs and street children. Furthermore, due to a lack of overall child participation, children remain inherently vulnerable because their voices continue to be unheard, unconsidered and undervalued in many local and national forums. Hence as we dialogue on care reforms we must strive to come up with innovative, localized approaches that will not only concentrate on removal and reallocation of children currently in institutions, but those strategies that must first and foremost be directed at preventing the perceived need of alternative care placements.

Baseline study Objectives

The project is guided by the following objectives:

Project Outcome/Objective Indicators below:

Objective one: strengthened CCIs providing integrated child protection services for CNCP

• % of people demonstrating positive attitudes towards care of children in families and community in place of institutional care
• Number of CCIs with capacity to engage in reintegration and alternative family care, family and community support services
• Number of children reintegrated or placed in alternative family care **

Objective two: Increased awareness and actions among community stakeholders on care and protection of children

• % of institutionalization request by parent and community members to CCIs
• % of community members demonstrates adequate knowledge on how they can prevent and intervene in cases of child separated from family or at risk of separation
• Number of joint policy recommendations submitted to key government decision makers that influence policy and legal frameworks.

Objective three. Enhanced ACCIK capacity to manage and effectively implement the project operations by 2020.

• Number of ACCIK staff and project steering committee whose capacity on finance management, programme design and implementation, monitoring, advocacy and emerging issue on CNCP has improved.

Scope and Focus of assignment

The baseline survey entails;

• To collect baseline data for the above objective indicators as bench mark for performance evaluation
• Provide information that will assist in identifying two sub -counties in every county with high rate of children in need of care and protection and factors contributing to help in project implementation and advocacy
• To assess the status of missing standards in project design and capture them in the implementation of programme
• To restate the outcomes and objectives if need be and to define and expand the indicators as result of baseline survey
• To readjust the result framework linking it with theory of change
• To set out scope of work and Action plan with targets as results from the baseline survey

Geographical Scope of the Baseline Evaluation

• Location- 15 counties; Kisii, Migori, Kericho/Bomet, Uasin Gishu, Transzoia , Muranga, Kiambu Kwale, Taita Taveta, Mombasa, , Makueni, Meru, Busia, Kakamega, Baringo
• Implementation period- April 2018-December 2020
• The target population will include: CNCP-living in CCIs, families, and care leavers who exiting or exited, CCIs, Children officers at the county and sub-county level and Area Advisory council, parents/ family and the community, Adoption society, Local administrators, Police, Probation Officer and after care services, children magistrate or Judges, Faith based community, health workers, Education and union leaders, front line staff dealing with child care and protection, Universities and Technical training institutes.

Methodology.

The baseline evaluation will adopt a mixed method approach which will include the systematic use of qualitative and quantitative methods.

Duration and Timeline

The assignment will be for a period of one month from 6th July 2018 to 6th August 2018. The consultant will provide a detailed timetable in his proposal specifying the distribution of tasks and duration to complete each task

Key Responsibilities

ACCIK

• Development of TOR
• Provide consultant with all required information
• Avail organizational staff for the consultant to work with in executing the task Organize inception meeting
• Review of draft report and giving feedback
• Organizing the meeting where consultant will present final report as PPT

ERIKS EAT

• Provide technical support and guidance to ACCIK
• Conduct periodic review of the execution of assignment together with ACCIK and Consultant

Consultant

• Submission of a technical proposal with a budget in consideration of design, methods/ techniques, tools and work plan
• Data collection, analysis and interpretation and report writing

Deliverables

• Development of inception report, analytical framework methodology, baseline evaluation tools and techniques and work plan and tools
• Submission of comprehensive baseline evaluation report; with baseline values for all project indicators, proposed indictors an monitoring methods for measuring impact and sustainability of intervention.
• Incorporate the feedback from ACCIK and submit a final report (soft and hard copy Submit a brief summary report (two pages) of the baseline evaluation for externalaudiences
• The raw data (transcripts, quantitative data and data collection tools) must be handed over to ACCIK together with baseline evaluation report
• Management response: An outline of recommendation including - specific stakeholders who are relevant to the effective impact measurement of project , result framework of project

Qualifications brief and Application process Specific Technical knowledge required

• Advanced university degree in the social sciences, international relations, law or other relevant field will be required.
• Five years of professional work experience at national and international levels in child protection, including child protection in emergencies.
• Previous professional experience in human rights and/or child rights monitoring and reporting
• Advanced technical knowledge of theories, principles and methods in the following: Strengthening child protection systems and partner capacity for protecting children against violence; in respect of harmful traditional practices; in strengthening social welfare systems.
• Use of data and indicators in child protection.
• Hands-on knowledge and experience in child participation approaches Experience in leading national advocacy interventions