The Role of the Bengkulu Provincial Social Affairs Office in Developing Social Welfare Institutions in Bengkulu City

Social Welfare Institutions occupy a strategic position as government partners in providing services to groups experiencing social welfare problems; therefore, the quality of institutional development influences service continuity and quality. This study analyzes the role of the Bengkulu Provincial Social Affairs Office in developing Social Welfare Institutions in Bengkulu City. A descriptive qualitative design was employed, with purposively selected informants representing the Social Affairs Office and administrators of child, older-person, and disability social welfare institutions. Data were collected through observation, interviews, and documentation and analyzed through data reduction, data display, conclusion drawing, and verification. The findings show that the regulatory role was implemented through registration and Registration Certificate legality, service-standard setting, institutional development and technical guidance, as well as supervision and evaluation. The dynamic role was carried out through outreach, mentoring, institutional capacity strengthening, and performance evaluation. The facilitative role was implemented by providing access to government programs and assistance, strengthening human-resource capacity, assisting accreditation, and monitoring programs. These three roles contributed to better administrative compliance, stronger institutional capacity, and improved social services. However, development activities have not reached all institutions optimally because of limited human resources and budgets, the large number of institutions under supervision, and uneven accreditation readiness. The findings underline the need to strengthen resource support, coordination, and the intensity of institutional development so that improvements in governance and social-service quality can be distributed more evenly across Social Welfare Institutions.