In its efforts to review and improve the programs and services for the marginalized and vulnerable sectors, officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) visited and inspected the facilities of the Jose Fabella Center, Nayon ng Kabataan, and the Sanctuary Center located at the National Capital Region on Monday, July 11.

During the ocular visit at the Jose Fabella Center (JFC), Undersecretary for Special Concerns Vilma Cabrera, Undersecretary for Policy and Plans Charles Frederick Co, Undersecretary for Standards and Capacity Building Denise Florence Bragas, and Assistant Secretary for Standards and Capacity Building Diana Rose Santiago-Cajipe, inspected the premises of the center. They also checked on the residents staying at the facility.

Staff of the JCF briefed the visiting officials on the current situation in the center, the challenges they are encountering, as well as the existing processes in admitting vagrants, mendicants/beggars, and the individuals or families who were found stranded in Metro Manila.

After visiting the JFC, they headed to the Nayon ng Kabataan, a 24-hour residential care facility of the DSWD which serves as a temporary shelter and provides psychosocial interventions and protection to children ages seven to 17 years old who are in need of special protection. These include children who are abandoned; neglected; victims of abuse and other circumstances like sexual abuse, physical abuse, child exploitation, child labor, and child pornography and trafficking; children in situations of armed conflict; street children; and children in need of special home arrangement. During the visit, the DSWD officials met some of the children staying there.

From Nayon ng Kabataan, they headed to the DSWD Sanctuary Center, a place of refuge and temporary shelter for adult females with improved mental conditions who are abandoned, neglected, and unattached. Residents of the Sanctuary Center are provided with therapeutic and rehabilitative services. Aside from checking on the condition of the residents at the center, the officials examined the equipment in their cooking and baking room, sewing room, as well as the area for arts and crafts.

The visit to the three centers is part of the strategy of the Department, under the stewardship of Secretary Erwin Tulfo, to enhance its mechanisms in the provision of residential care services to disadvantaged and vulnerable sectors and persons with disabilities. ###