South Africa shifted from the residual approach to adopt a developmental approach to social service delivery through adopting the White Paper for Social Welfare (RSA, Ministry for Social Welfare and Population Development, 1997). This mandated the shift from social welfare services to developmental welfare services. Included in these services is the foster care service; this is a child protection service which addresses section 28 (1b) of the South African constitutional endorsement, which states that “children have the right to family, parental or alternative care” (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996). In April 2010, the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 was initiated and implemented as legislative policy on the matter, with guidelines concerning the delivery of foster care services within the developmental approach. The goal of the study was to identify and describe barriers in the implementation of the foster care services within a developmental approach in Nkangala District, Mpumalanga. The research followed a qualitative approach whereby data was collected through focus group discussions. The participants were 13 social workers from seven child protection organisations in Nkangala District, Mpumalanga. From the key findings it was gathered that the majority of foster care social workers have no conceptual or contextual understanding of the delivery of foster care services within the developmental approach. The researcher recommends the formation of training manuals for Nkangala District foster care social workers, which clearly define developmental foster care services and the role of social workers. The researcher also recommends that social workers in Nkangala District take up the responsibility of being up to date with new developments that arise in social service delivery. The researcher further recommends that the Department of Social Development should consider reviewing the amount of money allocated to Non-profit Organisations for developmental statutory services, so as to ensure effective service delivery. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Social Work and Criminology / MA / Unrestricted

The transition from the previous Child Care Act 74 of 1983 to the new Children’s Act 38 of 2005 has been chaotic. Since the introduction of the Children’s Act 38 of 2005, and its subsequent implementation in April 2012, there has been instability in rendering child protection services. This state of affairs has been caused by some serious loopholes and shortcomings in the new legislation; challenges faced by social workers in adapting to it; lack of capacity of the stakeholders in the child protection field; and the shortage of resources to implement it. The goal of the study was to explore the challenges faced by social workers working in child protection services in implementing the Children’s Act 38 of 2005. The researcher conducted this study from a qualitative approach. The study was applied and exploratory in nature and utilised a collective case study design. There were 18 social workers in the employ of Johannesburg Child Welfare who participated in the study. They were selected through purposive sampling. Data was collected by means of focus group discussions. The findings show that social workers face institutional and infrastructural barriers in implementing the Children’s Act. Furthermore, social workers face massive human resource challenges in the implementation of the Children’s Act and these stem from the shortage of social workers; inadequate training of social workers and high case loads. Shortcomings that have been realised in the implementation of the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 relate to the transfer of children to alternative placements; different interpretations of different sections of the said Act; the fundamental change to a court based system of renewing the placement of children; contradictions of the Children’s Act with other legal statutes and societal values; and the over reliance of the child protection system on the foster care system to provide income support for children. The study concluded that the Children’s Act needs to be amended to address its pre-statutory, statutory and post-statutory shortcomings, which create many challenges in its implementation. The study also concluded that the shortage of social workers and/or inadequate training contributes to high case loads, which in turn, influences the effectiveness of child protection services. Recommendations on addressing the challenges faced by social workers in implementing the Children’s Act include the establishment of a kinship care grant; amending the Children’s Act; organising training for all role players involved in implementing the Children’s Act; and addressing technical issues on the implementation of the Children’s Act. / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted