Onse annually gathers judiciaries and legal personalities from the respective Regional Trial Courts for a dialogue and updating of laws and issuance along social welfare programs and services. Honorable Judges and Prosecutors, social welfare officers from the Office of the Clerk of Courts (OCC), Local Social Welfare and Development Offices (LSWDO), and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) never failed to commit and actively participate in this greatly anticipated activity. All have their respective issues and concerns prepared aside from their impromptu questions on the new laws related to social welfare program implementations. The latest national law that was presented and shared to them was Republic Act 11222 or An Act allowing The Rectification of Simulated Birth Records and Prescribing Administrative Adoption Proceedings for the Purpose (Simulated Birth Rectification Act). Discussions were lively since all are glad of its provisions as they have known couples with issues on birth record simulation. They assure to help motivate concerned couples to legalize their adoption cases as RA 11222 provides an easier and free legal fees proceedings.
Moreover, this salient activity of the region has been initiated in 2015 after the Adoption Resource and Referral Section (ARRS) head assessed the need to convene the concerned officials from the pillar of justice system to level off each agency’s expectations and for updating of recently implemented programs and policies of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) purposely to hasten the case management of all cases lodged in different courts of Region XI. Every year there are new judges or prosecutors who participate since, like social workers, they are also experiencing fast turn-over of positions. Nonetheless, they were able to catch-up with the cases being presented as they have their on-hand caseload inventory too.
This endeavour also served as a good venue for other programs of the Department to join like our Centers and Residential Care Facilities (CRCFs) specifically the Home for Girls and Women (HGW), Regional Rehabilitation Center for Youth (RRCY), and Reception and Study Center for Children (RSCC); ARRS; Trafficking Section; Minors Travelling Abroad; and more since all the stakeholders are present and they could grab the opportunity to express their individual concerns on their cases handled.
In conclusion, this type of Knowledge Management (KM) related activity is one of the Onse’s Good Practices as it strategizes minimum budget allocation, better learning space, and bridging gaps between our staff and our partners and intermediaries whose interactions all lead to improved service delivery and ensure organizational excellence.