King's College London

Para social workers are widely used in African nations to address inadequate capacity in the professional workforce, but there is to date very little academic commentary on the effectiveness of their role. This article considers the potential efficacy of the para social worker model in strengthening child protection at community level in Uganda. Twenty interviews were conducted with local government officers, Civil Society Organisation staff and para social workers (ten in each of two rural areas) together with four supplementary expert interviews. Insights from community resilience were used in analysis of the data. Findings suggest that the model has considerable potential to strengthen community-level protection of children in circumstances in which the operation of formal systems is limited by resource constraints and outside interventions may struggle to gain understanding and acceptance within communities. Challenges include the potential for conflicts of interest to arise and the implications of increased reporting of child maltreatment for the response of the formal child protection system, including alternative care arrangements. Given its widespread and developing usage, further research to understand the conditions under which the PSW model is most effective and sustainable in different social, economic, political and cultural contexts is essential.