In South Africa, alternative care solutions such as foster homes, child-headed households, placements with relatives and Child and Youth Care Centres (CYCCs), are under pressure to provide for the large numbers of children who need care. Child and Youth Care Centres include facilities such as children’s homes, places of safety, secure care facilities and schools of industry or reform schools. South African legislation offers guidelines towards the fulfilment of children’s needs in CYCCs by providing them with Children’s rights. Unfortunately, not only is literature on children living in CYCCs limited both internationally and locally, existing literature regarding children’s care in CYCCs in South Africa points towards a gap between legislative guidelines and practice of care provision. For example, apparently, children in CYCCs are not afforded opportunities to voice their opinions, and many CYCCs in South Africa are not legally registered. As a result, an obvious indication of the care and interaction taking place between caregivers and children in CYCCs is not available. This inductive, qualitative study aimed to explore and describe the views of children living in Child and Youth Care Centres in the Vaal Triangle area, Gauteng, South Africa, in an effort to gain a better understanding of children’s perceptions of their interactions with their caregivers. One-on-one interviews with children from three CYCCs were conducted. Interviews were voice-recorded and later transcribed. While being interviewed, participants were asked to take part in a role-play exercise and to make a collage of their interaction and relationship with their caregivers. Data was analysed using Creswell’s spiral of analysis and Thematic Analysis by Braun and Clarke. The findings revealed four themes, which encompassed the perceptions of interactions with caregiver: 1. Daily activity with caregiver; 2. Special time with caregiver; 3. Behaviour management strategies; and, 4. Relationship with caregiver. The key findings indicate the valuable insight that was gained by affording children in CYCCs the opportunity to voice their perceptions on their interactions with their caregivers. This not only empowers children and fulfils their right to be heard, but also provides a better understanding of whether needs are being met or not. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In South Africa, alternative care solutions such as foster homes, child-headed households, placements with relatives and Child and Youth Care Centres (CYCCs), are under pressure to provide for the large numbers of children who need care. Child and Youth Care Centres include facilities such as children’s homes, places of safety, secure care facilities and schools of industry or reform schools. South African legislation offers guidelines towards the fulfilment of children’s needs in CYCCs by providing them with Children’s rights. Unfortunately, not only is literature on children living in CYCCs limited both internationally and locally, existing literature regarding children’s care in CYCCs in South Africa points towards a gap between legislative guidelines and practice of care provision. For example, apparently, children in CYCCs are not afforded opportunities to voice their opinions, and many CYCCs in South Africa are not legally registered. As a result, an obvious indication of the care and interaction taking place between caregivers and children in CYCCs is not available. This inductive, qualitative study aimed to explore and describe the views of children living in Child and Youth Care Centres in the Vaal Triangle area, Gauteng, South Africa, in an effort to gain a better understanding of children’s perceptions of their interactions with their caregivers. One-on-one interviews with children from three CYCCs were conducted. Interviews were voice-recorded and later transcribed. While being interviewed, participants were asked to take part in a role-play exercise and to make a collage of their interaction and relationship with their caregivers. Data was analysed using Creswell’s spiral of analysis and Thematic Analysis by Braun and Clarke. The findings revealed four themes, which encompassed the perceptions of interactions with caregiver: 1. Daily activity with caregiver; 2. Special time with caregiver; 3. Behaviour management strategies; and, 4. Relationship with caregiver. The key findings indicate the valuable insight that was gained by affording children in CYCCs the opportunity to voice their perceptions on their interactions with their caregivers. This not only empowers children and fulfils their right to be heard, but also provides a better understanding of whether needs are being met or not. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Magister Artium (Child and Family Studies) - MA(CFS) / In South Africa family foster care is the first option of alternative care for children removed from their biological parents, adoptive parents or guardians, due to neglect, abuse or abandonment. Similar to international trends, South Africa prioritises family foster care. However, when the foster care placement disintegrates, children are generally placed in child and youth care centres (CYCCs) in accordance with the South African Children’s Act 38 of 2005. This qualitative study aims to explain the adverse childhood experiences of adults regarding their transition from foster care to CYCCs, using family systems theory (FST) to contextualise these accounts. The population for this study was adults living in Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB), who were formerly moved to CYCCs after the break down of their family foster care placements.

The study was carried out at the Mogale Child and Youth Care Centre (MCYCC) a privately run institution by Bosasa Operations in partnership with the Gauteng Provincial Departments of Social Development and Health and Social Welfare Department. The facility caters for boys in conflict with law aged 14–18 years, who have been legally placed in the facility as a place of safety by court order. It is expected that the findings and recommendations from this study will be useful in improving the food service standards for such institutions. At the time of this study there were 200 adolescents, 137 were awaiting trial, 55 on the diversion programmes and 8 were serving court sentence at the centre. The cross sectional study evaluated the food service offered at the MCYCC to establish the nutritional adequacy of the food served. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to collect and analyse data. Out of the 200, 144 answered the customer satisfaction questionnaire and 167 took the BMI test. Observations were done in the kitchen to determine the compliance level to the food and safety regulations. The analytical results of the responses from the self-administered questionnaire on the customer service satisfaction generated by the SAS software revealed reliable results. The probability, (p-value) from the Chi-square (χ2) test showed that there was a significant difference in response the parameters tested including the overall satisfaction. Body Mass Index (BMI) calculations established different anthropometric patterns of which 1.3% adolescents were found to be obese, 28.2% were overweight, 57% had normal weight while 13.5% were found to be underweight. The Foodfinder 3 software used to evaluate the nutrient composition in a 2-week cycle menu revealed that in most cases both the macronutrients and micronutrients in the menus exceeded the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for the adolescent boys. Food safety and hygiene standards results showed that the unit is compliant with the required standards as it scored 86%; it was colour coded Silver and rated as very good. All the parameters evaluated scored above average percentage rating the customer satisfaction level for the services offered at the MCYCC are as good. Both underweight and overweight adolescents exist among the adolescents at the centre. The weights from the sample food plates exceeded the RDA of the adolescent boys. The centre’s compliance to health and safety regulations was rated as very good. The authorities in the Gauteng Provincial Departments of Social Development and Health and Social Welfare and Bosasa operation management should make use of this evident information to further improve the food service standards for other such institutions. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2015 / School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH) / MSc / Unrestricted

Most children born HIV positive live longer and have more healthy lives since the advent of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART), together with the accessibility of Anti-Retroviral Drugs (ARV) to persons living with HIV. However, some of those children find themselves in need of care due to abandonment, orphanhood and / or neglect. In South Africa such children may enter the formal Child and Youth Care System and be placed in centres such as Epworth Child and Youth Care Centre. Due to the complex nature of the consequences of such disclosure or non-disclosure of HIV positive children’s status to them, social service workers are posed with a dilemma. In the absence of clear guidelines and policy around such disclosure, the children concerned may be unaware of their HIV positive status, despite being on a medication regime. The aim of the study was to explore the perceptions of social service workers regarding disclosure of HIV status to children born HIV positive living at Epworth Child and Youth Care Centre in Lambton, Ekurhuleni, South Africa. The study was located within a qualitative research paradigm, and utilised a purposive stratified sample of 15 social service workers form various occupational groupings recruited from Epworth Child and Youth Care Centre. A semi-structured interview schedule was employed as the research tool, with in-depth one-on-one interviews being adopted as a method of data collection. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data collected during the interviews. The main findings of the study were that HIV status disclosure is viewed as a complex but essential process as it reinforces children’s ability to adhere to medication regimes and to dispel anxiety and suspicion within themselves and around their status; that non-disclosure may lead to poor or coerced adherence and strains the relationship between the children and the social service workers. Disclosure of children’s HIV positive status can be viewed as complex as it presents both positive and the negative. Recommendations relate to community educative and awareness programmes, policy and practice changes regarding disclosure and none disclosure of children’s HIV positive status, as well as future research.

The aim of this thesis has been to investigate how social workers work with the reunification process at child and youth care centres in South Africa. The intention has been to explore what is important to accomplish a reunification and what challenges the social workers face in the process. A qualitative method was used and included 7 semi-structured interviews with social workers in South Africa. The conducted data was coded and categorized, using an inductive thematic analysis. In this study, the second phase of the ecological systems theory by Bronfenbrenner has been used, which includes the micro-, meso-, exo-, macro- and chrono levels. The theory has served as a framework in the analysis to explain the development of the child. Through the interviews three main fundamental components in the reunification process were distinguished, that overlap. The components are the 90-day assessment period, the time period of placement and the reunification. The time of placement has been categorized into three subthemes including the role of child and parent, the role of social workers and the role of resources. The findings show that the social workers regard the relationship between child and parent, collaboration between the external and CYCC social worker including resources, as crucial factors for reunification. Through the analyses, factors at each level in the ecological systems theory have been identified that affect the reunification process and thereby the child. Consequently, for a reunification to take place efforts need to address several areas around the child. / Syftet med den här studien har varit att undersöka hur socialarbetare arbetar med återföreningsprocessen på boenden för barn och unga i Sydafrika. Intentionen har varit att undersöka vad som är viktigt för att åstadkomma en återförening och vilka utmaningar socialarbetarna står inför i den processen. I studien användes en kvalitativ metod där 7 semistrukturerade intervjuer med socialarbetare i Sydafrika genomfördes digitalt. Den insamlade datan har kodats och kategoriserats med hjälp av en induktiv tematisk analys. I studien har den andra fasen av Bronfenbrenners ekologiska systemteori använts, vilken inkluderar mikro-, meso-, exo-, makro- och krono-nivåerna. Teorin har fungerat som ett ramverk i analysen för att förklara ett barns utveckling. Genom intervjuerna urskildes tre grundläggande komponenter i återföreningsprocessen, vilka överlappar varandra. Komponenterna som urskildes är den 90 dagar långa bedömningsperioden, den tidsperiod som ett barn är placerat på ett boende samt själva återföreningen. Den tidsperiod som ett barn är placerat på ett boende har kategoriserats i tre underteman, vilka består av barnens och föräldrarnas roll, socialarbetarnas roll och resursernas roll. Resultaten visar att socialarbetarna betraktar förhållandet mellan barn och förälder, samarbetet mellan de externa socialarbetarna och socialarbetarna på barn- och ungdomsboendena samt resurser som avgörande faktorer för att en återförening ska ske. Analysen i den här studien visar att faktorer på varje nivå i den ekologiska systemteorin påverkar återföreningsprocessen och därmed barnet. För att möjliggöra en återförening måste därför det sociala arbetet inriktas på flera områden runt barnet.

This study was interested in exploring the perceptions and experiences of social workers about the nature and contents of conducting risk assessments with child offenders. Considering the high level of crime and reoffending in South Africa, effective assessment is imperative. The goal of the research was to develop an in-depth understanding of how risk assessments of child offenders are conducted in practice. This was done by applying a qualitative research methodology. The study was conducted in the Western Cape. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews. Purposive sampling was employed and data were analysed according to the framework provided by Tesch. The findings indicated that although prescribed instruments are used in the risk assessment of children in South Africa, they all have definite limitations. To enhance the quality of service rendered to child offenders, the development of a standardised risk assessment instrument is needed. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Work)

This study was interested in exploring the perceptions and experiences of social workers about the nature and contents of conducting risk assessments with child offenders. Considering the high level of crime and reoffending in South Africa, effective assessment is imperative. The goal of the research was to develop an in-depth understanding of how risk assessments of child offenders are conducted in practice. This was done by applying a qualitative research methodology. The study was conducted in the Western Cape. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews. Purposive sampling was employed and data were analysed according to the framework provided by Tesch. The findings indicated that although prescribed instruments are used in the risk assessment of children in South Africa, they all have definite limitations. To enhance the quality of service rendered to child offenders, the development of a standardised risk assessment instrument is needed. / Social Work / M. A. (Social Work)