For NGOs
Your officers can't be everywhere. But the data can be.
Suwa Signal gives NGO field programmes a structured, consistent way to track child wellbeing across a caseload — in Sinhala, Tamil, or English — and turns that data into the donor report you're already supposed to be writing.
The gap
Dedicated officers. Inconsistent data. No way to see the full picture.
PSS officers are among the most committed people in the welfare system. They travel to communities, they build trust with families, they check in on children by name. But the data they collect — if it's collected consistently at all — lives in notebooks, WhatsApp messages, and Excel files that no two officers structure the same way.
When a child's situation deteriorates, it often surfaces not in a report but in a field visit — when the change is already visible. The signal was there earlier. It just wasn't visible in any structured form.
And when the donor report is due, programme managers spend weeks reverse-engineering insight from raw field notes. The evidence of impact was always there. Getting it into a format funders can read is a separate, exhausting job.
What it does
Consistent data collection. Structured signals. Reports that write themselves.
SDQ-25 in the field
Digital SDQ-25 for practitioners
PSS officers complete the SDQ-25 digitally — on a phone or tablet, with or without reliable internet — during or after a home or community visit. In Sinhala or Tamil. Data syncs when connectivity is available. 25 items, 5–10 minutes, five behavioural domains.
PSC-17 from guardians
PSC-17 — the home perspective
Parents and guardians complete the PSC-17 (Pediatric Symptom Checklist) — 17 questions covering their child's emotions, attention, and behaviour at home. Under 5 minutes. Available in Sinhala and Tamil. Captures what field visits cannot: the home pattern between visits.
Pattern detection
Caseload-level pattern detection
As data accumulates across SDQ-25 cycles and PSC-17 responses, Suwa Signal surfaces children whose patterns have shifted. Programme managers see which children need more attention — before a field officer raises the flag.
Donor reporting
Donor-ready data, already structured
Aggregate SDQ-25 data, attention signal trends, and cohort-level wellbeing patterns are available in the format your funders expect. When the report is due, the data is already there.
The field flow
From registration to donor report — here's the operational reality.
NGO registers the programme
A programme manager registers the organisation and defines the programme — a geographic cohort, a school-linked cohort, or a community caseload. The setup maps to how you already organise your field operations.
Parental consent is collected
Before any child is enrolled, a parent or guardian provides explicit consent. Suwa Signal supports both digital consent (via email or SMS link) and verbal consent with a recorded fallback — for contexts where a parent cannot complete a digital form independently.
PSS officers complete the SDQ-25 during field visits
Officers complete the SDQ-25 for each child on their caseload — on their phone, in Sinhala or Tamil, during or after a visit. Offline-capable. No reliance on real-time connectivity. Data syncs when they return to connectivity.
Children complete weekly check-ins where possible
In programme contexts where children have access to a device or kiosk — a community centre, a partner school — children complete their weekly check-in. Children aged 6–11 use the Suwa Signal custom instrument: 10 emoji-scale questions, 2–5 minutes. Children aged 12–17 use the WHO-5 Wellbeing Index. Both are optional in field contexts.
The programme manager sees attention patterns
The programme dashboard surfaces children whose SDQ-25 pattern has shifted across cycles, and — where weekly check-ins exist — children whose self-reported wellbeing has drifted. A prioritised view of where to focus limited field capacity.
Reports are generated from structured data
Aggregate wellbeing data, attention signal trends, and cohort-level snapshots are available in the format donors and internal reporting require. No reverse-engineering from field notes. The data structure was built for the report from day one.
The instruments
Built on validated tools. Adapted for the field realities of Sri Lanka.
Suwa Signal uses three validated instruments in the NGO field context.
Practitioner-completed
The SDQ-25 — Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
The SDQ-25 needs little introduction in the PSS sector. It is the most widely used brief behavioural screening tool for children aged 4–17 globally — used by NGOs, UNICEF, government health ministries, and research institutions in over 60 countries. Suwa Signal implements it in full — in English, Sinhala, and Tamil — completed by PSS officers during or after field visits. Covers five domains: emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity-inattention, peer relationship problems, and prosocial behaviour.
Guardian-completed
The PSC-17 — Pediatric Symptom Checklist
The PSC-17 is a 17-question caregiver-report instrument designed by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital for home-context behavioural observation. Three domains: internalising (mood, worry), attention, and externalising (behaviour, conduct). Under 5 minutes, available in Sinhala and Tamil. This captures what PSS officers cannot directly observe: patterns at home between visits.
Child self-report
Child check-in — age-differentiated
Where access allows: children aged 6–11 complete the Suwa Signal custom check-in (10 emoji-scale questions); children aged 12–17 complete the WHO-5 Wellbeing Index (5 questions, WHO-validated). Both add the child's own voice to the combined picture.
Field-specific considerations
- Offline-capable collection — officers don't need live internet during a visit
- Sinhala and Tamil interfaces throughout
- Verbal consent fallback supported for guardian enrolment
- PSS-appropriate language — no clinical terminology in the officer or parent interface
Note on licensing: The SDQ-25 is free for educational and non-commercial use. Commercial NGO deployments may require a licence from Youthinmind. The PSC-17 is free for non-commercial use (copyright MGH/Jellinek & Murphy). Suwa Signal will advise on licensing requirements during the pilot scoping conversation.
Data protection
Data protection built for field-based child welfare programmes.
Anonymous child identifiers
Children are stored in Suwa Signal using anonymous IDs. The mapping between ID and child identity is maintained by the NGO, on the NGO's own records. No full names in the platform.
Consent-gated — including verbal fallback
Every child requires parental or guardian consent before enrolment. Digital consent is the default. Verbal consent with a recorded fallback is supported for field contexts. No consent, no enrolment.
PDPA 2022 and responsible data
All data is processed under Sri Lanka's Personal Data Protection Act 2022. Suwa Signal aligns with ICRC's Responsible Data for Children principles and IASC PSS minimum standards.
Deletion on request
Any NGO can request full deletion of their programme data at any time. Data is not retained for secondary use, sold, or shared with third parties.
Programme deliverables
What your programme dashboard gives you.
Per-child SDQ-25 history
A full record of each SDQ cycle for each child in the caseload, with pattern flagging when scores shift significantly across cycles.
Per-child PSC-17 history
Guardian observation trends across cycles, with subscale breakdown (internalising, attention, externalising).
Attention signal list
A prioritised view of children whose combined patterns (SDQ + PSC-17 + child check-in where available) suggest follow-up priority.
Caseload-level aggregate view
Aggregate data across the cohort broken down by instrument domain — the format your donor report needs.
Officer activity log
Records which officer completed which assessment, when — supporting programme quality assurance and audit.
Exportable reports
CSV and structured export for integration into donor reporting templates.
Built for the field
We designed for how field welfare work actually happens.
Offline-first data collection
PSS officers collect SDQ-25 data offline during field visits. Data syncs when connectivity is restored. No lost assessments because of poor signal.
Sinhala and Tamil throughout
The officer interface, the parent-facing consent flow, and the child check-in are available in Sinhala and Tamil. This is not a translation afterthought — it is a design requirement.
Phone-first, not desktop-first
Field officers work on phones, not laptops. Every Suwa Signal interface is designed for a phone screen first. Desktop is the secondary context.
Verbal consent support
Not every parent in a field programme can complete a digital form. Suwa Signal supports verbal consent with a structured officer-recorded fallback — so that programmes serving less-connected communities are not excluded.
SDQ cycle management
The platform manages SDQ cycle timing automatically — so programme managers don't need to manually track when each child is due for their next assessment.
2026 pilot
What it means to join the 2026 pilot.
Suwa Signal's first pilot launches in Sri Lanka in 2026. We're working with a small number of NGOs — domestic organisations, INGO field programmes, and community welfare initiatives — to run the first real-world test of the platform.
Pilot NGOs get:
- Full platform access at no cost during the pilot period
- Direct configuration support from our team (including Sinhala/Tamil setup)
- A dedicated feedback channel to the product team
- Their programme's aggregate data in a donor-report-ready format at close of pilot
What we ask in return:
- A cohort of at least 20 children for the pilot period
- One programme manager or field coordinator as the primary contact
- Honest feedback — including what doesn't work for your context
Is it right for you?
Is Suwa Signal right for your programme right now?
It may be right for your programme if:
- → You run a PSS or child welfare programme in Sri Lanka with an active field caseload
- → Your officers are conducting regular visits and need a consistent data collection method
- → You have donor reporting obligations that require structured wellbeing data
- → You have a programme manager who can oversee the pilot
It may not be the right fit if:
- → Your programme has no field officers who conduct regular child visits
- → You're looking for a clinical assessment or diagnostic platform
- → Your caseload is entirely emergency/acute (Suwa Signal is designed for ongoing programme monitoring, not acute crisis response)
- → You need immediate deployment — the pilot cohort is small and we onboard carefully
Get in touch
Tell us about your programme. We'll be in touch within a few days.
No sales call. No demo environment. Just a genuine conversation about whether Suwa Signal fits your field reality — and what it would take to make it work for your programme and your communities.