• Introduction to targeting
• How should I approach targeting?
• Targeting by level of vulnerability: Who is most vulnerable?
• Geographic Targeting:  Where do you find more OVC?
• How do I set constraints on the number of children assisted?
• How identify eligible children at the community level?
• What if community-based methods are not possible? 
• What about children outside family care?
• Is there a role for (public) institutions?

What about children outside family care?

A main challenge in working with OVC is that many of the most critically vulnerable children are not living in a household setting – they may be in streets and markets, in mines and quarries, on the compound of temporary employers, in group homes, in brothels, with armed groups or gangs, in demolished houses etc. In addition to being hard to survey and sample, they also tend to be very mobile, and thus difficult to find and keep track of. Possible ways to identify them, and therefore determine the size of the beneficiary population, include the following:

• Spot censuses: So called “spot” censuses have been carried out in many urban areas to assess the size and composition of the street children population. They are often done by having experienced social workers develop an extensive list of all the urban spaces where homeless children tend to sleep, and then draw a random selection of the sites listed. The sites are then visited simultaneously by a large group of field workers, each being assigned only one or two sites. The visit often takes place between 3 and 4 in the morning, when the children are most likely be gathered to sleep. The results of the spot census are then extrapolated to the number of sites on the original list.

• Specialized surveys: Macro International/DHS is in the process of developing methods for sampling and surveying OVC living in the street and in institutions, and the survey design is currently being tested in Malawi. The survey registers data on time of street exposure, survival status of family members, food intake, education, possessions (blanket, shoes, sets of clothing), and nutritional status. On the basis of these data, it should be possible to identify simple criteria to use for targeting.

Community-based methods are unlikely to be suitable to target resources to these children, because they tend to be either physically or psychologically outside a community. In these cases, the best solution is probably self-selection, by offering services that would not be of interest to children in more fortunate situations. Examples are counseling to victims of sexual abuse (most unlikely to attract children who have not been victimized), drug rehabilitation programs (of little interest to children without a drug problem), or drop-in “schools” in market places (only convenient to children working in the market). Because it is almost always a challenge to obtain the commitment of certain OVC (like street children, child prostitutes, child substance abusers, and child soldiers) to a reintegration program, self-recruitment is often used. Children are made aware of the existence of the program, normally through the regular visits of social workers and street educators. If and when a child has gained sufficient motivation and trust to enroll in the program, the child is encouraged to do so, and it is assumed that this self-recruitment will increase his or her commitment to the rehabilitation and re-socialization process.