Abstract: Effective child protection framework requires a holistic approach where all actors are involved. This study was conceived to assess the level of collaboration between community–based informal approaches and government formal child protection structures in Mwingi central sub county. The study adopted mixed methods research design where data collection and analysis was done through both qualitative and quantitative methods. Both probability and non-sampling procedures were used to select a total of 433 respondents who included 399 adult members of the households, 24 children aged between 12-17 years and 10 key informants who participated in this study. The study was guided by the systems theory and the collected data was analyzed through thematic content analysis and descriptive statistics which involved the use of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20. The study results showed that there was poor close working relationship between structured child protection systems and community-based informal structures and the working relationship between the two approaches was greatly hampered by factors like: low visibility of government officials within the study region, community mistrust of government officials, and corruption by some government officials. The study recommends that there should more collaborative effort in child protection for better results.

Abstract: The study was designed to investigate the role of community-based informal approaches in child protection in Mwingi Central Sub County, Kitui County. In order to address the above-stated objective, the study adopted a transformative worldview with an emphasis on mixed methods research design. The study used both probability and non-probability sampling methods, and 2 divisions, 5 locations, and 24 villages were chosen for the study using simple random sampling. Data was collected from a sample of 399 adult members of the households using questionnaires; 24 children aged 12-17 years (both in and out of school) through in-depth interviews’; and from 10 key informants. The study was guided by the systems theory and the collected data was analyzed through thematic content analysis descriptive statistics which involved the use of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20. The study results revealed that members of the community were more familiar with and preferred the use of community-based child protection approaches than the formal government child protection units. The study recommends that child protection practitioners should strive to close the gap between the formal and informal community-based child protection approaches to ensure that there is a cohesive approach to child protection.