Previously known as Social Welfare Development Programme (SWDP), Appogg, forms part of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services. Appogg has as its ultimate aim the enhancement of the lives of people in need, through the provision and availability of professional care and support.

From a small Social Welfare Organisation aimed at developing initiatives to help individuals in need who find themselves in vulnerable situations, today this organisation has become the core of social welfare services in Malta. Offering over 25 specialised and generic social welfare services, Appogg has become the central national agency for children and families in need.

Mission Statement

"To provide, develop and promote social welfare services, in a coherent and integrated manner, reflecting the real and emerging needs of the service users, in order to enable them to enhance their potential."

Vision

"That people in need find access to and are provided with professional care and support."

Background information

In 1994, the Social Welfare Development Programme was set up by the Ministry for Social Policy, so as to work for the improvement of the Social Welfare Sector as well as community development. At the time the Agency comprised of the Child Protection Service, Domestic Violence Unit and the Community Development Unit. Then, in the year 2000, a re-structuring exercise was implemented which led to the setting up of Appogg, with the aim of prioritising and strengthening services for children in need of care, developing human resources, integrating all social work services, harmonising service standards and practices as well as positioning itself for expansion.

The Agency is led by an Operations Director, 3 Managers and a group of Service Area Leaders - one for each service. Appogg is in fact composed of three main pillars of services - the Children Services, the Adult and Family Services and the Community and Generic Services. These are continuously supported by the Administration Team, who take care of the administration aspect, and by a compendium of other services offered at Foundation level, including information and communication technology, training, human resources, marketing and communications, and research.

In line with its mission statement Appogg has over the years developed a vast array of services aimed at addressing the real and emerging needs of the persons it encounters in the course of conducting its duties.

The services within the Agency give priority and focus on children and their families, adults in need, in vulnerable situations and at risk of social exclusion and the community at large thus ensuring that social networks are strengthened and are more equipped in dealing with the real issues that members of our society, especially children and families, are facing. Social welfare services aim at bringing change and through our services we hope to bring about change in people's life - change that will enable them enhance their potential through the support, care and understanding that they receive from the social welfare professionals that they come in contact with through Appogg.