The rapidly increasing number of AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa has raised much concern. The combination of HIV/AIDS, poverty and associated risk factors place children at risk for developing emotional, social, cognitive and behavioural difficulties. Resilience literature has emphasised the role of psychosocial support in buffering risk and boosting resilience in children. A holistic intervention programme, designed to empower and mobilise communities at grass-roots level, aims to address the psychosocial needs of vulnerable children. Such community interventions rely heavily on the support of volunteers. Previous initiatives conducted in South Africa have experienced difficulties in recruiting and retaining volunteers. The literature points out that understanding what motivates individuals to offer their services to others is crucial for the survival and effectiveness of any community-based programme that relies on volunteer support. Guided by the qualitative methodology of grounded theory, this research explored the motivations of volunteers offering their services to vulnerable children in peri-urban communities in KwaZulu-Natal. This inductive method enabled the researcher to identify motivating factors and interpret the underlying processes within and among these. The perspective of systems theory further explained the categories of motivations in relation to the social context. It was anticipated that the findings of this research would enhance existing training programmes designed for volunteer workers. Recommendations for both research and practice were put forward. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

This qualitative study is an exploratory investigation aimed at understanding the expectations and experiences of volunteers offering psychosocial support to vulnerable children. It serves as an evaluation of one aspect of the Structured Group Therapy Programme (SGTP) implemented within peri-urban and rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal. Volunteers from within these communities are involved in facilitating this community-based programme, and in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of this project, it is important to understand what (i) motivates an individual to volunteer in the programme, and (ii) what keeps them involved. Two groups of research participants were selected to participate in this study. The first group comprised of five volunteers who were more experienced in their work with vulnerable children than the second group of participants. The first group of participants had been involved in the Vulnerable Children's Programme (VCP) for a longer duration, across all the communities in which the programme operates, and were involved in training new facilitators. The second group of participants consisted of eight community facilitators, who were involved in implementing the programme within their local community alone, and were less experienced than the first group. The nature of this study required careful consideration of ethical principles before, during, and even after the study was complete. A focus group was run with each of the groups with the aim of exploring the volunteers' expectations before entering the programme and their experiences within the programme. The focus groups were transcribed and analysed within an interpretive, phenomenological framework. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

The study "Can recipients of the Child Social Grants in Banana City Informal Settlement generate an adequate standard of living from the Grant?" examines whether the child support grants is accessible and sufficient to generate the livelihoods of beneficiaries. The study evaluates the impact of the grant on low income households particularly beneficiaries in Banana City Informal Settlement. The challenges facing the recipients in accessing the grant are identified and recommendations advanced. The lack of proper Identity Documents was identified as the key challenge facing qualifying and intended beneficiaries of the Child Support Grant. The findings of the study reveal that there is a need for continuous synergy between various governmental departments in ensuring that the Millennium Goal of halving poverty by 2015 is achieved. The research draws from international practices of social welfare measures in countries such as Brazil, India and China. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Child Welfare organisations in South Africa, including KwaZulu-Natal, are being faced with various challenges. Since 1994, after the first democratic elections in South Africa, a major shift toward the developmental welfare approach was advocated in the White Paper for Social Welfare (Department of Welfare, 1997), in the provision of welfare services and programmes. The South African AIDS epidemic shows no signs of halting. At present, South Africa has the largest number of individuals living with the virus in a single country, with an estimated 5.3 million infections (UNAIDS, 2005). KwaZulu-Natal is ranked fourth. South Africa is facing an unprecedented AIDS crisis. The increasing numbers of HIV infected adults and children are having a devastating impact on child welfare organisations. Child Welfare organisations were already under-resourced, overstretched and overburdened, even before the AIDS epidemic emerged. The consequences of apartheid, especially in terms of mass poverty and HIV/AIDS add a further problem on an already divided and somewhat 'abnormal' society. In addition, the shift from the welfarist tradition of social work practice to the developmental paradigm has serious implications on the functioning of child welfare organisations, which are unable to cope with the existing caseloads. Hence there is a need to address the challenges and for specialised services in the arena of HIV/AIDS. The purpose of this study was to investigate the responses of child welfare organisations in KwaZulu-Natal to the challenges of HIV/AIDS. The ecosystems perspective provided the theoretical framework within which the study was conducted. This perspective guided the selection of the study samples and the analysis of data. The study adopted a descriptive design, and the triangulated research paradigm incorporating both the quantitative and qualitative methods, as this was the most appropriate approach for the study's focus, objectives and research questions. By combining these two methods, a general overall audit was achieved in addition to obtaining rich, in-depth information. Fifty-five child welfare organisations in KwaZulu-Natal constituted the main sample for the quantitative study. Personal in-depth interviews were conducted with 5 senior social work personnel from the child welfare organisations. There were conclusive findings in this study that indicated that overall, child welfare organisations in the KwaZulu-Natal region are making concerted efforts to respond to the challenge of HIV/AIDS in the broad areas of policy implementation and modification, specific programmes for children, special facilities for children affected by HIV/AIDS, awareness and prevention programmes and community projects. However difficulties in these areas were also experienced in the specific areas of providing adequate care, support and counselling with regard to children and families infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, staff inadequacy and training and facilities for pre and post test counselling. Some of the factors that have been responsible for impeding the overall success can be attributed to: high staff turnover, high caseloads, burnout and stress, lack of adequate resources, inadequate funding, lack of government support, poverty and inefficiency in the social security system. Recommendations for further research and for policy and practice are detailed. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.