QUEZON CITY -- In its commitment to building a safe, sensitive, and responsive environment for all Filipino children, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will forge a partnership with the International Justice Mission (IJM) on their Strong Network of Care Project that will address the gaps in meeting the individualized needs of child survivors of online sexual exploitation from rescue to their reintegration to their families and communities.

The ceremonial signing of the Memorandum of Agreement will be held on June 27.

The Strong Network of Care Project aims to equip the network of social services in the Philippines and provide appropriate short- or long-term interventions to the child survivors to reduce their risk of re-victimization through a survivor and trauma-informed assessment model.

The project will support the child survivors’ development and encourage them to grow as valued members of society. Child survivors will also receive comprehensive assessments using the Department's institutionalized assessment and reintegration standards as a basis for short-and long-term interventions. Survivors and their families will also gain access to and receive timely reintegration services responsive to their specific needs.

In addition, the project will ensure compliance with the standards in the conduct of capacity-building activities for social workers, house parents, and foster parents from different agencies under the DSWD, local government units, and non-government organizations in the rehabilitation, reintegration, and restoration of victims of online sexual exploitation of children.

Meanwhile, survivors in Mindanao will receive appropriate individualized mental health services through a coordinated network of mental health service providers as well as alternative care through foster and kinship care.

The project will be implemented in the National Capital Region, Regions III and IV-A in Luzon, Regions VII and VIII in the Visayas, and Regions X and Caraga in Mindanao. These regions were identified as high-prone areas based on the Baseline Study conducted by the IJM and on the data on trafficked persons served through the DSWD's Recovery and Reintegration Program for Trafficked Persons. (DSWD)