The CoP as an Impact Case Study

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Summary of the impact:

The Communities of Practice for Child Wellbeing (CoP) project tested a collaborative, evidence-based approach to improve child wellbeing. It drew together leading experts in the fields of social welfare, education, social work, psychology, engineering and health to design a Child Wellbeing Tracking Tool (CWTT) and programme, implemented in the early grades of schools, that could identify children at risk and work to improve their wellbeing across several domains.

The project was implemented in five schools in the poorest areas of the City of Johannesburg and one school in a rural area in Limpopo, benefiting teachers, social workers, and nurses who learned a new approach to supporting children at risk of poor wellbeing; and children and their caregivers living in poverty. Key tangible impacts include enhancing the capacity of school social workers, teachers and nurses to work collaboratively to support the wellbeing of children and their caregivers. By linking families to amenities and organisations in their respective communities such as social development offices, vaccinations in the local clinics, and food relief programmes, and ensuring that children receive eyesight, speech, and hearing assessments, the research demonstrated improved wellbeing across all children who were at risk at the baseline point.

The programme has been presented to the National Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) School Care and Support Team strategic breakaway in 2023 and the DBE National Lekgotla in 2024. The DBE has expressed interest in how to implement the programme in schools as a mechanism for achieving better wellbeing outcomes for children, that would ultimately support their learning. It has also received endorsement from UNICEF and Save the Children.

Underpinning academic work:

Based on several years of research by Prof Leila Patel and others, demonstrating how the structural nature of poverty creates multiple barriers for children’s ability to thrive, the COP project tested whether these barriers could be overcome through a local community of practice. The study adapted lessons from Health Systems Strengthening to welfare and education services for children (Patel et al., 2020). It acknowledges that while cash transfers alleviate poverty, they cannot alone improve child wellbeing due to the systemic nature of poverty (Patel & Graham, 2022). Thus, the study investigates connecting grant beneficiaries to other services to enhance wellbeing outcomes.

Prof Patel, the Principal Investigator, collaborated with academic experts from various fields—education, psychology, health, social work, sociology, systems optimization, social policy, and nursing—to design the domains of child wellbeing, develop the CWTT research instrument to track wellbeing over time, and create interventions to support improvements.

The project is groundbreaking in generating holistic longitudinal data across different domains of child wellbeing in South Africa, transcending disciplinary silos by integrating experts from social sciences, nutrition, health, education, engineering, and community services. It applies a systems-strengthening approach to welfare, combining theoretical knowledge, evidence, innovative technology, and implementation expertise to address local challenges.

Narrative description of the impact:

First, the development of the CWTT for collecting and monitoring multidimensional data assesses children’s wellbeing across six domains. The research instrument drew in multi-disciplinary expertise to inform the domains of child well-being and their measurement. The CWTT, designed by Prof Telukdarie, leverages his expertise in systems optimisation. It includes an interface for teachers and social workers to visualize and interpret data, aiding evidence-informed intervention planning. The CWTT has the potential for integration into the DBE’s screening, identification, assessment and support policy.

Second, the project developed a local-level systems-strengthening approach. While combining cash transfers with other services is increasingly recognized as necessary for improving wellbeing, there is limited evidence on how to effectively connect grant beneficiaries to needed services. The COP offers a school-based model using evidence from the CWTT, which the DBE acknowledged could enhance the work of school-based support teams.

Third, piloting this approach has led to tangible improvements in children’s lives. Household hunger and caregiver depression decreased, and children’s health markers improved due to nursing interventions (Patel et al. 2022, 2023). Teachers reported better child cleanliness, concentration, performance, interaction, and parental involvement.

Fourth, the project positively impacted teacher and social worker capacity. Research by Perold & Delaney (2024) revealed that teachers valued the expertise and support from social workers, which helped them better support children. Social workers appreciated having a structured approach for school support. Both groups valued evidence-based methods to support each child.

Finally, due to positive outcomes, the DBE and international NGOs like Save the Children and UNICEF are interested in replicating and institutionalising this approach. Discussions are ongoing with the DBE to implement the approach in Gauteng schools and institutionalise the CWTT.

Evidence and Corroboration:

Research Publications:
Reports on the changes in child wellbeing outcomes:
Stakeholder Endorsements:

Evidence of the effects for social workers and the school-based social work profession:

Engagements with DBE:

For evidence of the effects on teachers and principals, please see this presentation developed by consultants Helene Perold and Aislinn Delaney (2024).

Public Awareness:

To ensure the wider dissemination of the CWTT, the approach and the results, we set up a portal to ensure that the information about the project could be easily accessed for practitioners and policy makers: www.communitiesforchildwellbeing.org. UNICEF and Save The Children have both followed the progress of the project and are using the lessons from the project in their own advocacy work. See evidence here. Through the project we have held several webinars and one symposium. Attendance at the symposium reached 337 attendees with policy-focused representatives from the Gauteng Dept. of Education, Western Cape Education Department, National Department of Social Development, Department Of Basic Education and UNICEF. We have also had the following citations in the media:

Finally, the project has also involved the capacity development of early career academics, the majority of whom are Black women.

The project was a Team Award Finalist at the USAF-HSRC CEO’s Award under the social justice theme.