Cape Town - About 70% of children in the foster care system in the Western Cape are on short-term foster care orders and are therefore required to return to court every two years, thus creating an administrative nightmare for provincial Department of Social Development (DSD) social workers overburdened by the number of foster care cases.
This was revealed during a briefing by the DSD to the standing committee on social development on the foster care policy, its challenges and funding allocation.
DSD foster care programme manager Najwa Taliep said currently there are 39 363 children in foster care in the province, with 26 478 children on short-term foster care orders. These cases must return to court every two years for a review.
About 10 515 foster children are on long-term orders, 302 are in cluster foster care schemes, and 2 370 are beyond the age of 18.
Taliep said social workers are under immense pressure as a lot of work goes into extending one foster care order.
“The amount of work, investigation, compilation of reports and supporting documentation is almost equivalent to that of a Children’s Court inquiry, so it is a huge administrative process to extend one foster care order.”
The department hopes to see a reduction in this with the amendment of section 186 of the Children’s Act.
The department has 245 dedicated foster care social workers managing the 39 363 cases. One of the core challenges faced by the department is with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
Taliep said magistrates vary in their interpretation and application of the Children’s Act, with the lack of uniformity hindering the extension of orders.
Court orders are sometimes unclear, incorrect or incomplete when handed down and thus create an issue with the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) which rejects the orders and refuses to process the flawed orders.
These matters are then considered unfinalised and form part of the foster care backlog.
Social workers are also subjected to long waiting periods for court dates and court orders.
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) also prolongs the time frame for issuing birth certificates and unabridged certificates, compromising the payment of foster care child grants.
There are more than 250 cases of children who do not have birth certificates from the DHA.
With the national norm at 60 cases per social worker, in the province social workers face high case loads with about 160 cases per social worker.
DSD chief director Children, Families and ECD, Charles Jordan, said the department would need another 100 social workers to specialise in foster care to see a reduction in the case loads.
Low salaries and high case loads are just some of the reasons for a huge exit of social workers opting to take up jobs in Australia, England and New Zealand, tackling about 15 cases a month, Jordan said.