Foster care system buckles under increasing pressure

OF THE 1 657 children placed in foster care this year, only 8% have reunited with their families as the system buckles under the pressure of more children needing rescue and care.

This was according to MEC for Social Development Sharna Fernandez in response to a written question in the Western Cape legislature on the number of children that were placed in foster care between January and August. The figures also showed that only 139 children were reunited with their parents.

An emergency foster care mother in Atlantis said weak controls in the system were making it difficult to motivate parents to seek help so that they may be reunited with their children.

“There is a great need for foster care mothers in our community. I have had a child in my care since last year whose mother has not bothered with counselling. It is a known fact that she is on drugs but she has not taken a single drug test this year.

“We are meant to return to court next year but I foresee this poor child remaining in foster care because the mother is not incentivised to get help.

“We started a programme to get communities to sign up for training to become foster parents because of the great need that exists for children in need of care away from their parents for a number of reasons,” she said.

Fernandez’s spokesperson, Joshua Chigome, said last year the total number of children in foster care stood at 25 531, while as at the end of September it had increased to 35 988.

However, Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu, in a parliamentary response, said 32 209 people received foster child grants in the Western Cape, the country’s fifth highest figure.

Bonteheuwel community leader Henriette Abrahams said the plight of children in foster care systems was appalling and needed urgent attention.

“We live in areas where children are amongst the most vulnerable and get exposed to the social ills that plague our communities,” she said.

“While there is and will continue to be a need for children who have been removed from the care of their parents to be placed in places of safety, those homes also need to be closely monitored and continuously checked because children at times fall prey to unscrupulous foster parents.

“The government at its core continues to fail our children given the lack of support given to parents to foster an environment that will be secure enough to have their children reunited with them,” Abrahams said.