Abstract: Kenya has made significant efforts towards the realization of child rights, especially the protection rights. Specifically, there is a growing need to eliminate violence against children in society more so in childcare institutions. The deinstitutionalisation of children in Kenya has its basis in the Children’s Act 2022. In the Act, there is a pointer to children’s rights to parental care and regulations regarding residential care, foster care, and adoption. This study aims to benefit many parties in the field of child care starting with children’s homes and related institutions in Kenya for effectively implementing de-institutionalization policy. The study assessed the level of involvement of social workers as they could uniquely cement the transition from residential care to community-based support. The study was anchored on empowerment and strain theories while, elaborating on the importance of giving power through resources, information, and support to operationalize deinstitutionalization. A mixed method approach was preferred because it allowed both qualitative and quantitative data to be gathered and analysed concurrently. Professional social workers, policy formulation officers, and deinstitutionalisation officers were involved in obtaining data on deinstitutionalization success factors. Findings indicated that there was to a little extent involvement of social workers in the implementation processes. The study concluded that social workers were least involved in the deinstitutionalisation policy thus recommending their increased involvement with adequate government backing. Inculcation of skilled social workers would ensure a more impactful de-institutionalization as the country goes through this critical juncture of care reforms.

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.