This chapter critically analyzes the findings of an external evaluation study which was commissioned by One Child One Family-Hope and Homes for Children South Africa (OCOF-HHCSA) and conducted by the Southern African Policy and Development Nexus (SAPDN). Prior to the study, the Gauteng Province Department of Social Development (GDSD) was implementing the deinstitutionalization of children from residential care to family and community settings, while being supported by OCOF-HHCSA, which provided the technical framework, training, and monitoring and evaluation. The rationale for the external evaluation was inter alia to serve not only as a learning tool to ensure relevance, effectiveness, usefulness, and sustainability of the care reform in Gauteng Province and five other provinces of South Africa that could create a potential critical mass for systemic change nationwide, but to be a valuable mechanism to assist OCOF-HHCSA and GDSD in achieving maximum impact and benefit to target groups. The chapter analyzes how the evaluation functioned not only as an accountability mechanism but also as a catalyst for policy learning, institutional change, and systems reform. Informed by the study, OCOF-HHCSA and SAPDN gathered information and perspectives from stakeholders to arrive at a new policy perspective.
