Enhancing Child Wellbeing Outcomes through Communities of Practice for Social Systems Strengthening

South Africa has significantly expanded social protection, in the form of cash transfers, to the majority of eligible children, mainly through the Child Support Grant (CSG). Alongside this cash transfer children can access free healthcare, education and a national school nutrition programme. Despite these significant investments into reducing child poverty many children still face poor wellbeing outcomes including stunting (which still stands at 25%), food insecurity, and poor education outcomes.

Established in 2020, the Community of Practice (CoP) is an applied research initiative focused on enhancing children’s wellbeing by bolstering social support systems around them. Grounded in extant research that underscores early childhood as a
period of heightened responsiveness to interventions, the CoP leverages a multisystemic framework that integrates
health, education, mental health, and welfare sectors. With a specific focus on children in their foundational years
of schooling (Grade R, Grade 1, 2 and 3).

Over a period of three years (2020-2022), data was gathered from a cohort of children across five schools in Johannesburg. The data served two purposes: a) to enable the school-based CoPs to implement tailored interventions addressing the needs of individual children, caregivers and families to enhance their wellbeing; and b) to track whether shifts in child wellbeing could be observed over time. Drawing on comparative analysis of a matched sample of 123 children, we demonstrate shifts in caregiver depression, food security, and health outcomes.

The study demonstrates how models of complementing cash with comprehensive welfare support provides opportunities to enhance wellbeing outcomes for vulnerable children. These insights provide important insights in the emerging cash plus field of study, and points to the importance of social service professionals.