Content validity of a Contact Planning Tool for social workers to determine contact between a foster child and biological parents

Abstract

The amended Children’s Act (38 of 2005) provides a comprehensive definition for contact. In Section 23, it also allows for biological parents to apply for contact, and provides factors that a court can take into account when making a decision concerning children. However, information needs to be available for a court to make a decision and social workers assist the court with the decision-making process. South Africa’s policies and legislation that should guide social workers in determining contact between a foster child and biological parents is sorely lacking at the moment. The researcher developed a Contact Planning Tool that can be used to assist her and her colleagues at the Christian Social Counsel (CSC) to determine contact between a foster child and biological parents. The development of the tool was based on practical experience gained from working in the field of foster care and input from international literature sources. The researcher also obtained input from colleagues. This tool has never been empirically verified or researched through a legitimate form of research. A qualitative approach and a descriptive research design were utilised by the researcher to explore the professional opinions of social workers regarding the tool. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in order to obtain data. The sample of participates that was used consisted of professional social workers with over five years of working experience in the field of foster care. A total of 11 participants took part in the study. An interview schedule with predetermined questions were used to gain the views and opinions of the participants. The v researcher manually analysed the data and five thematic categories were identified. The findings are represented, according to these five categories. These categories focus on the overall impression of the tool with regard to aspects, such as the child, the biological parents, the foster parents, and the practical aspects of contact. Valuable data were gained on the content of the tool and how great the need is for guidelines to assist social workers in determining contact between a foster child and biological parents. The orientation of the research is discussed in Section A (Part 1), which focuses on the aim of the research, the problem statement, the research methodology and ethical implications. Section A (Part 2) focuses on the literature review of the study, which provides an overview of contact, as described in international literature and in terms of the Children’s Act (38 of 2005). This section examines the benefits and concerns concerning contact, the role of social workers with regard to contact, and provides comprehensive detail on all of the above-mentioned aspects with regard to contact. Section B forms the centre of the study and is presented in article format. The article provides an overview of the study and presents the findings of the study. Section C provides a critical evaluation of the study, limitations, recommendations and the conclusion of the study. The results of this study show that a gap exists in the field of social work concerning contact between a foster child and biological parents and there is a need for policies and legislation to assist social workers in decision-making processes regarding contact. In addition, the findings revealed that the proposed tool can be of great value to social workers in the field of foster care. The findings also provide solid data on content validity based on recommendations for the improvement of the tool. Future research can include refining the tool by making use of the recommendations made in this study and testing the tool in the child protection field.