Pretoria – The Department of Social Development has appointed a Ministerial Committee to assist the department address the challenges facing the country's foster care system.
The 24-member committee will investigate the backlog of foster care applications and address the lapsed foster care orders within the confines of the law, also taking into consideration the best interest of the children.
The Committee will be expected to consult with the respective provincial heads of Social Development and SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) regarding the status of the foster care programme; conduct a gap analysis of the available psychosocial programmes within the social welfare programme that should be accessed by foster children; as well as provide a report to the Minister with recommendations and policy options.
The committee will be chaired by former Deputy Minister of Social Development, Maria Ntuli.
Announcing the members of the committee on Monday, Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini said that since the promulgation of the Children’s Act of 2005 and the subsequent ruling of the North Gauteng High Court in 2011, it has become increasingly apparent that the growing demand for foster care placements has created significant challenges in the system. She said this was partly due to the impact of HIV and Aids over the years and the limited resources to respond to this demand.
She said the Ministerial Committee is an important part of the implementation of the National Strategy on foster care and an important part of the department’s efforts to respond more innovatively to challenges in society through Project Mikondzo.
“It is established to determine the contributing factors to the challenges experienced within the foster care system and advise the Minister, within 18 months, on measures that may be considered to improve the quality of foster care services,” Minister Dlamini explained.
Challenges in foster care placements
Some of the challenges in foster care placements include human resource shortages in the form of social workers and social work supervisors, which make it difficult to implement the Children’s Act, as well as high staff turnover for both NGOs and the department, putting an extra case load strain on those left behind.
Since 2010, the department has engaged the Justice, Health, Home Affairs and Education Departments, as well as the NGO sector with the view to:
- Eradicate the backlog of lapsed foster care orders;
- Determine the context of foster children to inform programming of foster care services to respond to the needs of foster children;
- Evaluate the foster care programme to inform policy reform for foster care; and
- Make recommendations for improvement of foster care services.
National Integrated Plan
The Minister also announced that the National Integrated Plan has been adopted and will be rolled out in three phases.
Phase one will look into the situation of expired foster care orders, while foster grants are still in payment. This involves direct contact with each family to confirm the care arrangements for the foster child or children.
Phase two will focus on extending the current foster care orders to eliminate the backlog and ensure compliance to the May 2011 North Gauteng High Court Order.
During Phase three, the department will conduct an audit of the foster care programme.
Deputy Minister Ntuli said it is an honour to be part of the foster care committee that will look after the poverty stricken children in South Africa.
“The committee is here to see the change in the lives of little children, who need the love of a parent, home and to be cared for. We are taking this responsibility knowing that we are ordinary women and men, but inside us, there is this giant that says we are going to work hard to make a difference.”
The number of children receiving foster child grants has increased from approximately 200 000 in the year 2000 to over 553 000 by 30 September 2014. – SAnews.gov.za
