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This sixteenth issue of the South African Child Gauge focuses attention on child and adolescent mental health and how early experiences of adversity ripple out across the life course and generations at great cost to individuals and society. It calls on South African society to put children at the centre of all policies in order to protect children from harm, build their capacity to cope with stress and adversity, and provide them with opportunities to thrive.
This 16th annual review of the situation of the country’s children is published by the Children’s Institute (CI…
In contexts where poverty and mental health stressors already interact to negatively impact the most vulnerable populations, COVID-19 is likely to have worsened these impacts. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in South Africa already faced intersecting mental health stressors and vulnerabilities. It is critical to understand how additional challenges brought on by COVID-19 have intersected with existing vulnerabilities and mental health risks AGYW faced, particularly given the intersections between psychological distress and increased risk behaviours that…
In this first event of Family for Every Child's How We Care series, Family Members CINDI (South Africa), Conacmi (Guatemala) and Uyisenga Ni Imanzi (Rwanda) shared their approaches and experiences of providing psychosocial support to children and families during the COVID-19 crisis. Their presentations were followed by a panel discussion and Q&A, complementing the How We Care materials being produced on this theme. Juliana Trujillo from Juconi (Mexico) moderated this…
Family for Every Child, as part of its How We Care initiative, has developed a series on Psychosocial support for children and families during COVID-19, which highlights different approaches taken by three of its member organizations to providing essential psychosocial support to…
COVID-19, also known as coronavirus disease 2019, emerged in China In December 2019. Over the months that followed, cases of the virus were reported in most countries around the world. The World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic in early March 2020.
The pandemic is having a significant impact on Family for Every Child Members and the children and families that they work with. The virus doesn't discriminate, but the impact of the illness is unequal, with far greater socio-economic and health consequences for poor and marginalised communities.
This…
Domestic adoption is usually considered to be in the best interests of abandoned children. However, although ongoing efforts have been made to recruit prospective black adopters, adoption rates remain low. A grounded theory study was conducted to explore how black South Africans perceive and experience the adoption assessment process regarding the adoption of abandoned children. Findings indicated that social workers regard a rigorous assessment process as essential to ensure that adoption applicants are fit and proper to adopt, whereas prospective adopters deem the process unreasonable. The…
This chapter from the South African Child Gauge 2018 focuses on childcare and children’s caregivers in South Africa and aims to address the following questions:
- Who provides care for children?
- How does the state support or undermine care choices?
- Why and how should the state support caregivers?
Abstract
In South Africa, hundreds of black, abandoned children enter the legal child care system on an annual basis and become eligible for adoption. Although these children have a right to be raised in their country of origin, they are often made available for intercountry adoption owing to a lack of prospective domestic adopters. Statistically, middle-class black South Africans present as a significant source of domestic adopters, but the number of black South Africans legally adopting abandoned children is small. A qualitative enquiry, using grounded theory, was conducted to establish…
This video discusses the challenges social workers face in placing children for adoption in South Africa.
Abstract
In South Africa, rates of adoption remain low while the number of fostered children continually rises. Little is known about the public perceptions, beliefs and experiences that inform decisions to either foster or adopt in South Africa. This qualitative research explored these issues among a national sample of childless adults, biological parents, kin and non-kin fostering parents and prospective and successful adopters. Fostering is driven predominantly by access to subsidies but is also informed by socio-cultural beliefs. Low adoption rates are influenced by an…