Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / Societies today are rapidly expanding, both demographically and politically, thereby causing adolescents who are HIV positive to be faced with multifaceted challenges. For these societal demands, young people need to acquire the relevant skills. The life skills approach has been found to improve adolescent changes by building skills that are necessary components of healthy development and enables adolescents to deal with life challenges. Evidence suggests that the life skills approach promotes social, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral competencies that are important in decreasing negative or high-risk behaviours (Pearlstein et al.,2013, Mellins et al.,2012) . The aim of this research was to evaluate the life skills programme utilised by social workers, social auxiliary workers and community workers at an NGO that deals with HIV positive adolescents.

Magister Artium (Human Ecology) - MA(HE) / A theory-based evaluation has been conducted with an improvement-orientated purpose on the Social Auxiliary Worker (SAW) Training Programme for an accredited provider to improve and continue to implement their own SAW Training Programmes. Theory-driven evaluations are essential for distinguishing between the validity of programme implementation and the validity of programme theory. Addressing the social needs of communities through social development and transformation is a top priority for the South African Government. South Africa faces a shortage of Social Work Practitioners (SWPs) due to emigration, as well as insufficient numbers of university graduates. This shortage has left the current SWPs with severe workload pressures. The South African Department of Social Development (DSD) initiated, in 2004, the training of Social Auxiliary Workers (SAWs) to serve as assistants to the SWPs. The SAW qualification initiative has been developed as a course accredited with the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) at the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level 4. Providers of SAW training courses are accredited by the Health and Welfare Sectoral Education and Training Authority (HWSETA) and by the South African Council for Social Services Professions (SACSSP). The empirical part of the study was conducted in two stages. The first stage consisted of a clarificatory evaluation, wherein a step-by-step logical participatory process was followed for the clarification and development of the programme theory. This process resulted in logic models and a theory-of-change model against which the evaluation questions for the study were developed. These questions assessed the need for the SAW training programme - and for the SAW training programme planning and design. It was found that there was a need for SAW training programmes and that the SAW training programme had been designed to address this need. The second stage consisted of an implementation evaluation. This was done by means of a data matrix using the evaluation aspects for each of the objectives developed during the clarificatory evaluation. Data gathering was done by means of content analysis, focus group workshops and questionnaires. Data interpretations, conclusions and judgements were made with regard to each of the objectives and consolidated in a table format which indicated the outputs and outcomes, implementation results- and a judgement and recommendation for each objective. It was found that a standardised and structured process was followed most of the time, but that the knowledge and skills training elements, particularly in their practical application, left room for improvement. The study illustrates the advantages of a theory-based evaluation that assists with programme planning and modification, knowledge development and the planning of evaluation studies.

South Africa bears the largest burden of children living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa, with 450 000 of the continent's over 3 million children living with HIV estimated to be in the country (UNAIDS, 2013:87). Children living with HIV have various intrinsic biopsychosocial needs, and the meeting of these needs within drop-in-centres is primarily the responsibility of Social Auxiliary Workers, a ?frontline? category of social welfare workforce whose roles are viewed as critical in enabling the identification and facilitation of provision of health and other services. The study was informed by a concern that, in spite of their envisaged roles, Social Auxiliary Workers have very limited paediatric HIV knowledge, skills and experience. The goal of the study was to explore the perceptions of Social Auxiliary Workers on their role and competencies in addressing biopsychosocial needs of children living with HIV at drop-in-centres. The researcher conducted this study from a qualitative approach. The study was applied in a natural setting and a collective case study design was utilised. The work experiences of a purposive sample of participants that was randomly sampled were gathered by means of semi-structured one-on-one interviews. A total sample of 10 participants was drawn from a pool of 40 Social Auxiliary Workers who were employed in 18 drop-in-centres that are in Sedibeng District Municipality. The study's findings indicate that children living with HIV had many complex biological, psychological and social needs that were exacerbated by stigma, discrimination and non-disclosure of the children's HIV status by parents. This created underlying debilitating barriers for Social Auxiliary Workers to efficiently identify, and get children into treatment, care and social support services. The findings also revealed that Social Auxiliary Workers had limited, non-standardised and highly imperceptible HIV knowledge and skills to competently work with children living with HIV. Furthermore, findings showed that Social Auxiliary Workers face institutional and resource challenges that stem from poverty, insufficient financial resources within drop-in-centres and lack of structured large scale programmes to mobilise and educate communities on children and HIV. The study concluded that many of the biopsychosocial needs that children living with HIV face are not being comprehensively and sustainably addressed as Social Auxiliary Workers are not effective in their role, amongst other things, due to lack of skills and knowledge on how to address factors that contribute to the exclusion; and consequently, disproportionate low access of services by children living with HIV. The study proposes the training and capacitation of Social Auxiliary Workers on paediatric HIV so as to increase the depth and breadth of services rendered to children living with HIV. It is also important that regular and on-going supervision and debriefing opportunities for Social Auxiliary Workers should be strengthened to promote optimal consolidation of skills and knowledge. The provision of simplified practice guidelines and procedures should also be prioritised in order to ensure consistency in understanding amongst Social Auxiliary Workers of their role and obligations. Furthermore, it is recommended that Government and the Department of Social Development should consider scaling-up funding for drop-in-centres as well as implementation of HIV-related stigma and discrimination mitigation programmes in communities. / Mini Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Social Work and Criminology / MSW / Unrestricted