Services to Branches

Services to Branches

• WCAPD
• 31/08/2015

WCAPD supports APD Branches in a continuous process of evaluating, planning and implementing action to solve problems and achieve their goals. In this way, new skills are transferred which contribute to the expansion of knowledge and efficiency of staff on all levels. This improved capacity allows Branches to manage future change with minimum risk.

Governance

The WCAPD Operational Manual which includes policies, administrative guidelines and procedures as well as financial systems and procedures, serves as a Code of Governance with a set of values and principles intended to guide and inform the way APD Branches are managed and conduct their affairs. It also serves as a standard and measure of performance to guide Management Committees and those who carry responsibility for governance.

We are constantly involved in establishing new policies and continuously monitoring their implementation in an effort to build a sustainable organisation on both Provincial and Branch level. Our focus of support is primarily on the fiduciary members of these Management Committees, as persons who hold the legal and ethical relationship of trust with the public.

Governance and monitoring remains a joint responsibility of WCAPD and Management Committees of each APD Branch.

Capacity building

Much of our time is spent on developing and building the capacity of the entire organization. We are dedicated to an annual process where all staff, volunteers, Management Committee members and persons with disabilities receiving services from APD Branches are exposed to the development and strengthening of knowledge, skills and other capabilities through technology and training.

Building capacity with individuals equips individuals with the necessary understanding and knowledge that enables them to perform effectively, while organizational development ensures beneficial relationships within the organization and Branches, as well as between the different organizations in the public, private and community sectors.

 

Coming soon…

 

Social work supervision

Professional supervision plays a very important role in the output and performance of Social Workers, Auxilliary Workers and the APD Branches as such.

Professional Supervision is a scientifically based process whereby the supervisor (Senior Social Worker) guides the social worker in the development of their professional capacity to enable the social worker to function independently and autonomously within the context of an organization. Supervision is regarded as a specialised field in the social work profession.  The Supervision Framework of South Africa regards supervision as an “Academic discipline in its own”.  Supervision is an accountable, two way process, which supports,  motivates and enables the development of good practice for individual social care workers, resulting in improved quality of service provided by the organization.

 

The supervisory relationship is both the context for learning and a living learning experience in itself (Kaduschin. 1992) Professional Supervision focus on every professional need and growth point of the social worker.  A lot of emphasis is placed on training and monitoring yet this does not attenuate or limit the supervision function. Kudaschin continues to say that social workers change in every phase of their professional development and therefore the function and activity of supervision differs in different phases.

 

The supervisor is not responsible for direct service delivery to clients, but has an impact on the standard of service delivery to the client.  Professional Supervision plays a very important role in the output and performance of Social Workers, Auxiliary Workers and the APD Branches as such.

Supervision is conducted in different forms with different emphasis placed on key functions.  Educational, supportive and administrative functions are used in supervision, and though separate from one another, they interrelate with each other.  The value of supervision therefore lies in the combination and integration of these functions to ensure reaching the goals of:

• efficient social work services to the client;
• facilitating personal and professional growth of the social worker;
• reaching the organizational aims.

 

WCAPD provides professional supervision to all social workers/auxiliary social workers at APD branches and supervision to all other employees.  The sessions are structured, goal-oriented and based on the attainment of competencies and outcomes as stipulated in the social worker/auxiliary worker/other staff’s personal development plan.

Human resources

We consider our staff to be an important resource without which we would be unable to achieve our goals. While our staff are dedicated towards the service the organization renders, it is important to us to keep them motivated and evaluate performance, so as to contribute towards the performance and sustainability of the organization.

Strategic planning

A strategy is a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal, most often “winning”. – Wikipedia.org

Internal and external environments change, impacting our organisation and services. For this reason we annual revisit our strategies on all levels of service delivery during planning sessions which involve members of our Management Committee, staff and volunteers. In this way, everybody has an opportunity to contribute to our future path group and is committed to the same organizational dream & vision. Discussions focus on setting measurable goals and priorities for implementation.

Support to Management Committees of Branches is part of this process, to develop the necessary procedures and operations to achieve our vision.