Country Care Snapshots

Ghana

Progress Indicators
Effective
Social Welfare Spending
US$ 129,297,418
Child Welfare Spending
Alternative Care Policy in line with the 2009 Guidelines
Mostly
Children’s Act (1998); The Constitution (1992); National Standards for Residential Homes for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (2010); National Policy Guidelines on Orphans and Other Children Made Vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, 2005; National Social Protection Strategy, 2007; National Action Plan for Orphans and Vulnerable Children, 2010; and more
Yes
Child and Family Welfare Policy. UNICEF, Government of Ghana, 2017
Centralised authority on adoption
No
Yes
Central Adoption Authority, Intersectoral Adoption Board
Commitment to Deinstitutionalistion/Reforms
Mostly
Care Reform Initiative (CRI) within the Department of Social Welfare (DSW)
Yes
Guidelines for Deinstitutionalisation of Residential Homes for Children. Department of Social Welfare, UNICEF, 2020
Comprehensive child protection law
Partly
Child and Family Welfare Policy
Yes
Children's Act 1998, (560) amended in 2016 to include foster care and adoption
Continuum of alternative care services available
Limited
No Data
Data System
Limited
Simple case management database profiling children in residential care
Limited
Social Welfare Information Management System (SWIMS)
Existence of a regulatory body and regulatory system
Limited
Yes
Children’s Act, 1998, (Act 560), Foster Care Regulation (2018), Adoption Regulation (2018).
Gatekeeping mechanism/policy
No
Mostly
Children in Need of Care and Protection: Standard Operating Procedures. Government of Ghana, 2018
Means of tracking progress with reforms
No Data
Partly
DSW, 2018
Moratorium on admission into institutions for children under 3
No Data
No
Moratorium on new institutions
No Data
No
National Action Plan
Yes
National Plan of Action (NPA) for OVC (2010–2012, extended to 2015)
Partly
DSW, 2020
Prevention of Separation Services available
Partly
National Plan of Action (NPA) for OVC (2010–2012, extended to 2015)
Limited
Support for careleavers (in legislation and in practice)
Limited
Standards for Residential Care provides guidance for children aging out of care (Standards 6–7)
Partly
DSW