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Background/Objectives: Vulnerable populations, particularly those with mental illness, are at a significantly higher risk of developing chronic health comorbidities and facing barriers to regular healthcare, often resulting in a shorter lifespan than the average population. The purpose of this needs assessment of a rural population utilizing a local food bank and soup kitchen is to assess the health status of the population in relation to mental health and chronic illness, and to determine this population’s access and utilization of primary care services. The data collected in this assessment will identify potential needs for formal community partnerships and help develop recommendations to improve health status of this potentially vulnerable community. Design: This study consisted of a needs assessment involving an orally administered survey to a potentially vulnerable population evaluating socio-demographic factors, chronic illness, mental health diagnoses, and questions regarding primary care access and utilization using the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT). Setting: The study took place at the Flagstaff Family Food Center (FFFC), a local food bank and soup kitchen in Northern Arizona. Data collection took place during the free dinner meal over two site visits. Participants: Clients utilizing the FFFC who are English speaking, 18 years of age and older, able to give informed consent. Results: Data collected shows that a large number of FFFC clientele would be classified as vulnerable, and several report mental illness and other chronic illness. One hundred percent of survey participants report having health insurance, yet two participants report not having a primary care provider (PCP) and using the emergency department for their healthcare needs. While the majority of clients report having easy access to their PCP, the ongoing care and coordination of services appears to be lacking. Conclusion: Based on this pilot needs assessment, there is a need for more formal partnerships between healthcare providers and organizations and the FFFC to ensure this vulnerable population receives adequate care for chronic disease management, mental illness and prevention. By providing connections at the FFFC where clients come to receive a free meal, some of the common barriers of stigma, transportation and system navigation may be eliminated.

This study focused on how the political environment affects the governance of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) by non-state actors in Mutare, Zimbabwe. The increase in the number of OVC has led to non-state actors intervening to care and support for OVC because the government is no longer able to do so. Traditionally, extended families worked as the safety net for OVC but due to certain government policies and failures, the burden of caring for the children has increasingly fallen on non-state actors. Governance determines who has power, who makes decisions, how people make their voices heard, and how account is rendered. It aims to promote and strengthen participation by civil society in governing. This research looked at people involved in decision making, who the actors are, and who they report to. A qualitative research design and case study approach was used to provide answers to the research problem which is an investigation of the effects of the political environment on the governance of OVC. Primary data collection was obtained through interviews in organizations in Mutare that assists OVCs. The researcher made use of content analysis to analyse the data that was obtained through interviews. This research found that although the government of Zimbabwe created policies to support the care of the OVC, they have also created an undesirable environment that affects the governance of OVCs. Some of the policies were created to monitor the functioning of non-state actors which resulted in most of the organizations to relocate to neighbouring countries. The outcomes of this study will assist policymakers and childcare programmes to review and design effective intervention policies aimed at helping OVC in Zimbabwe. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / UP postgraduate bursary for Masters and Doctoral students. / Political Sciences / MA / Unrestricted

This research explored the narratives of orphaned and vulnerable youths who currently reside, or have previously lived their childhood and/or adolescent years, in a shelter in Johannesburg, Gauteng. Data was collected using a semi-structured interview and thematic content analysis was used to interpret and analyse the collected data. Interviews were conducted with 8 participants, all male youths between the ages of 18 and 25 years. This research explored their perceptions of life in the shelter and particularly how the youths make sense of their experiences, relationships, social support, and their ability to cope in the childcare institution. This research also explored the participants’ views of the future. The elicited ‘insider’ perspectives yielded rich information regarding life in a childcare institution, and may additionally serve to guide future interventions to adequately meet the needs of Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in childcare institutions, and subsequently attempt to improve their psychosocial well-being. Results of the study indicate that there is a need for more consistent psychosocial support for institutionalised OVC, especially during the adjustment period into the institution. It seems that participants in the study were still struggling with unresolved emotional issues of the past which appeared to be negatively impacting their current well-being. Consequently, it was not uncommon for them to rely on unhealthy coping strategies to deal with the emotional distress thereof. Despite the various challenges described, it seems that participants have demonstrated considerable resilience, gratitude, and hopefulness for the future.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Masters in Social Work in the Department of Social Work at the University of Zululand, 2017. / Parental loss has a devastating effect on the lives of the orphaned children as it brings about many changes and difficulties in different areas of a child’s life. The children face difficulties educationally, socially, financially and psychologically when they experience such loss. The impact of parental loss can be traced to many conducts or behavioural problems that children manifest later in life. The essence of the study was to explore the after-math that orphaned children face once the parents are deceased and what impact it has had on them in their continuation of life within the boundaries mentioned above (educationally, socially, financially, and psychologically). The significance of the study was to provide an improved understanding of the current state of the orphaned children in their new places of care post parental loss given the assistance that they receive from the government (monetary grants) and civil society including international donors to mend their situation. The researcher’s focus was on uncovering the re-arrangement of the orphan’s lifestyle holistically after a parental loss and how it has negatively affected them. To attain the research aim, a qualitative research method was employed and an exploratory research design was followed. Unstructured interviews were used to collect data having an interview schedule as a guide for question flow and for the purposes of employing neutral probing should the need arise. 10 participants, five females and five males were purposively selected to participate in the study. The participants were orphaned children who receive support from a local Community Based Organization (CBO) called Thembalethu, which is located in Thalaneni area. The data analysis of the study discovered that orphaned children do face different distresses after the death of their parents and effects are deeper. Educationally the children have been affected as they have had to relocate to the new places of care, leaving the schools they attended and adapt to the new school coupled with the loss that has been experienced. This has yielded in orphaned children’s poor academic performance in school. Socially the children have taken a strain as it was reported that the decision of who assumes care for them never lies with them and they end up in the care of a person whom they rarely knew. As many orphaned children are recipients of the social assistance in the form of foster care grant and child support grant, the decision about the use of their grant money has also lied with their caregivers and v ultimately benefited other people who are in the household due to the overwhelming number of people that need to be cared for. Psychosocial support has been seen to be the greatest need by the orphaned children as it was reported that they face psychosocial distresses due to not receiving thorough counselling regarding the loss that they have experienced. Other children have been compelled to move on with life without grieving properly for their parents and they have suffered the effects of lack of bereavement support. Upon the realization of these challenges, the researcher, therefore, recommended that close supervision of the cases of foster care be implemented by social service practitioners in the government and non-governmental sector in order to follow-up and make progress with placements and be kept abreast of these challenges. Parenting skills are also seen to be needed by the relatives that assume care for the orphaned children so as to improve the standard of living amongst the orphaned children and the new caregiver.

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In rendering child care protection services to adolescents in the Marshite area as a social worker in the Department of Social Development, the researcher recognised that an increased number of adolescents are sexually abused also by persons known to them. The sexual abuses are not reported because adolescents and caregivers lacked adequate knowledge of what is sexual abuse and services provided by social workers available for them. This became evident from the intervention programme statistics which indicated that adolescents and caregivers were not aware of other sexually abusive behaviours than penetration. The aim of the research was to identify circumstances that contribute to adolescents’ vulnerability towards sexual abuse in a rural area in order to enable social workers to empower adolescents and caregivers on how to prevent sexual abuse. Also to develop and evaluate programmes and services rendered to sexually abused adolescents and their families. Purposive voluntary sampling was used to select adolescents participating in empowerment programmes of social workers in the Marshite area. The research reveals that children in the Marshite area lack sufficient knowledge on child sexual abuse. The circumstances within which the adolescents live in the Marshite area make the adolescents victims of sexual abuse. Looking at the services that social workers render to the sexually abused adolescents and their caregivers in te Marshite area, there is a need for skilled and knowledgeable forensic social workers who can develop empowerment programmes and render relevant services to sexually abused adolescents and their families in the Marshite community. / MSW (Forensic Practice), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Sexual abuse of children is a major problem in South Africa. There is an increasing number of orphans in urban but also in rural areas of children and orphans who are sexually abused. The researcher experienced in her daily work as social worker in the rural area of the Oliver Tambo district Municipality children and orphans who are sexually abused. The aim of this study is to identify the risks factors contributing to the vulnerability of orphans towards sexual abuse. Purposive sampling was conducted among social workers who have experience with orphans who were sexually abused in the Ngqeleni and Port St Johns areas of the Oliver Tambo District in the Eastern Cape. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by the researcher with the social workers as well as document analysis from the files of orphans who were sexually abused from the caseloads of these social workers. From the data received it has been confirmed that family members where orphans grew up fail often to accept and to treat them like their own children, especially when they are not sharing the same clan name with the children. Orphans do not always get full support and protection like other children in the family. This situation makes it even more difficult for them to talk freely about their challenges. Lack of knowledge also plays a role to these children as they fail to report to government departments and community leaders. Looking at the vulnerability of orphans in the Oliver Tambo District, there is a definite need for social workers to empower orphans and their caregivers with knowledge in preventing orphans from being sexually abused. There is also a need for forensic social workers to help with the assessment of orphans who are sexually abused in order to assure more successful prosecutions of alleged perpetrators. / MSW (Forensic Practice), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In rendering child care protection services to adolescents in the Marshite area as a social worker in the Department of Social Development, the researcher recognised that an increased number of adolescents are sexually abused also by persons known to them. The sexual abuses are not reported because adolescents and caregivers lacked adequate knowledge of what is sexual abuse and services provided by social workers available for them. This became evident from the intervention programme statistics which indicated that adolescents and caregivers were not aware of other sexually abusive behaviours than penetration. The aim of the research was to identify circumstances that contribute to adolescents’ vulnerability towards sexual abuse in a rural area in order to enable social workers to empower adolescents and caregivers on how to prevent sexual abuse. Also to develop and evaluate programmes and services rendered to sexually abused adolescents and their families. Purposive voluntary sampling was used to select adolescents participating in empowerment programmes of social workers in the Marshite area. The research reveals that children in the Marshite area lack sufficient knowledge on child sexual abuse. The circumstances within which the adolescents live in the Marshite area make the adolescents victims of sexual abuse. Looking at the services that social workers render to the sexually abused adolescents and their caregivers in te Marshite area, there is a need for skilled and knowledgeable forensic social workers who can develop empowerment programmes and render relevant services to sexually abused adolescents and their families in the Marshite community. / MSW (Forensic Practice), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Sexual abuse of children is a major problem in South Africa. There is an increasing number of orphans in urban but also in rural areas of children and orphans who are sexually abused. The researcher experienced in her daily work as social worker in the rural area of the Oliver Tambo district Municipality children and orphans who are sexually abused. The aim of this study is to identify the risks factors contributing to the vulnerability of orphans towards sexual abuse. Purposive sampling was conducted among social workers who have experience with orphans who were sexually abused in the Ngqeleni and Port St Johns areas of the Oliver Tambo District in the Eastern Cape. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by the researcher with the social workers as well as document analysis from the files of orphans who were sexually abused from the caseloads of these social workers. From the data received it has been confirmed that family members where orphans grew up fail often to accept and to treat them like their own children, especially when they are not sharing the same clan name with the children. Orphans do not always get full support and protection like other children in the family. This situation makes it even more difficult for them to talk freely about their challenges. Lack of knowledge also plays a role to these children as they fail to report to government departments and community leaders. Looking at the vulnerability of orphans in the Oliver Tambo District, there is a definite need for social workers to empower orphans and their caregivers with knowledge in preventing orphans from being sexually abused. There is also a need for forensic social workers to help with the assessment of orphans who are sexually abused in order to assure more successful prosecutions of alleged perpetrators. / MSW (Forensic Practice), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015