Purpose of the programme
The programme will accelerate initiative to bring about the transformation of the Developmental Social Delivery Services.
What is crucial to the transformation plan is the urgency of meeting the needs of the poor and most vulnerable groups in communities as well as making shifts from over sourced to under sourced areas.
The programme looks more broadly at funding for services with the aim of transforming the NGO Sector and the manner in which they render social services to previously disadvantaged communities.

Policy Mandates
The Sub Directorate administers the following legislative and policy mandates.
•    Constitution
•    NPO Act 1997 (Act No 71 of 1997)
•    Public Finance Management Act (1999)
•    Older Persons Act (No. 13 of 2006)
•    Child Care Act No 74 of 1983 as amended 1996, 1999
•    Children’s Act (No. 38 of 2005)
•    Probation Services Act (No. 116 of 1991) as amended
•    Prevention and Treatment of Drug Dependency Act. (Act 70 of 2008)
•    Social Assistance Act (No. 30 as amended)

Policies
•    Policy on Financial Awards to Service Providers
•    White Paper for Social Welfare (1997)
•    Integrated Service Delivery Model
•    Integrated National Disability Strategy
•    The Strategic Plan is informed by the Policies, priorities, procedures, norms and standards.



Situational Analysis
The Northern Cape  is both urban and rural  with townships and informal settlements continuing.
The Province is vast, characterized by wide spread poverty with under-resourced areas that are prone to socio-economic problems making  people more vulnerable.
According to Stats. SA, (mid-year population estimates of 2005) the Northern Cape Population totals to over 1million (1 063 897).The population of the Northern Cape is characteristically very young and very old, resulting in more elderly people taking responsibility of the children and households.42% of the people have an income below the poverty breadline of R800 per month.  The devastating  impact of HIV/AIDS on families lead to children being orphaned and an increase in child-headed households thus the increased demand for social service delivery.
The unemployment percentage has increased from 28,3% in 1996 to 33,4% in 2001 and according to the Labour Force survey the unemployment rate is 24,7%.  In addition to this, the human development index for the Northern Cape Province is 0,58%, which is substantially below the National South African average of 0,72%.
Despite the aforementioned challenges, the Department  however strenghtened Non Profit Organisations through the allocation of resources.
Developmental Social Welfare Services are classified in  terms of the level of intervention provided in a continuum.
They are  divided into Prevention; Early intervention; Statutory; Residential and Alternative Care;  Reconstruction and Aftercare Services.

Analysis of constraints and Measures planned to overcome them
Post funding as programme funding
Budgetary constraints are experienced by the NGO Sector and the challenge has been exacerbated by the inability of the Department to increase subsidies and introduce parity. With these budgetary constraints, NGOs are unable to respond to many of the developmental challenges particularly the extension of services to rural areas.

Capacity Constraints
The inability of the NGO Sector to retain Social Service Professionals due to low remuneration is a major concern. The recruitment of qualified social workers in the NGO Sector is also critical.

Partnerships
The Department has forged partnerships with the NGO Sector over many years.
Lack of progressive NGOs in the Province is a major hindrance, as skills have to be imported outside the Province.



Description of Planned Quality Improvement Measures
•    To institutionalize outcome – based monitoring and evaluation of funded NPOs in order to ensure efficient service delivery and value for money.
•    A retention strategy for Social Workers in the NGO Sector, e.g. maternity benefits.
•    Shifting of resources from well resourced to under resourced areas.

Resource Consideration
The Policy on Financial Awards to Service Providers in the Social Services Sector is primarily aimed at ensuring that Government together with the Non Governmental Sector: and where appropriate, private sector organizations, achieve the mission of the Department namely to enable the poor, the vulnerable and the excluded within the South African society to secure a better life for themselves, in partnership with all those who are committed to building a caring society. The Department demands accountability for the programmes they fund, including measures of efficiency. This places pressure on government to monitor and evaluate. To ensure equity takes place, shift from over-resourced areas to high priority areas have to be made.

Risk Management
High vacancy rate of Social Workers in the NGO Sector as the profession is regarded a scarce skill
Salary discrepancies between government and NGO Social workers
Post funding as opposed to programme financing
Parity in terms of salaries of Social workers in the NGO Sector and Government needs to be considered
Lack of uniformity in funding and standardization of services (forms, frequency, etc.) with other Provinces.