Kumasi, April 7, GNA - Child maintenance cases in the Ashanti Region decreased in 2008 from 1,631 in 2007 to 870 last year, the Department of Social Welfare in the region has said. The decrease was attributed partly to the Department's intensive educational campaign meant to educate people on the need to be more responsible towards their children.

Mr Pascal Osei-Twumasi, the Regional Director of the Department, who told the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi on Monday, said the outfit also resolved 205 child custody cases, 124 paternity cases as well as 196 family welfare cases.

Mr Osei-Twumasi revealed that out of 308 family reconciliation cases reported to the Department during the year under review, 290 were successfully settled with the remaining 18 withdrawn and resolved at the family level.

He indicated that the department had expanded its activities on the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme and that so far eight districts in the Region had been covered of which 1,141 people have been paid various sums of money ranging between GH¢8 to GH¢16 to support their living.

The Director mentioned some of the beneficiary districts of the LEAP programme to include Kumasi Metropolis, Asante Akim North, Amansie West and Atwima Nwabiagya Districts.

Mr Osei-Twumasi said the vision of the Department was to take lead in integrating disadvantage and vulnerable people into the main stream of development and also work in partnership with them to improve their social well-being.

He enumerated some of the problems facing the department as lack of funding, computers and inadequate staff and appealed to the government to address such problems to enable the department work efficiently and effectively.