Challenges faced by social workers in foster care services : a case of John Taolo Gaetsewe District, Northern Cape Province

Abstract

Foster care services are in high demand in South Africa because so many children country-wide are exposed to orphan hood. Reasons can include the death of biological parents, parents abandoning children or even the disappearance of the parents. This study explored the challenges social workers face with foster care services by looking at the John Taolo Gaetsewe district, Northern Cape, as a case study. Social workers experience operational and emotional impediments experienced with respect to the foster care process, creating an implementation challenge. The demand for foster care has drastically increased and this has put strain on the delivery of services to vulnerable groups. In examining these problems the ecological perspective and role theory provided a suitable theoretical framework. The study entailed qualitative research through an exploratory design and by means of focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. The participants were purposively selected, and the data were analysed using thematic analysis. It emerged that the challenges social workers face fall into two categories, being operational and emotional challenges. Operational challenges are outlined as the high caseloads, uncooperative and dishonest foster parents, the lack of resources, and misuse of the foster care grant. The second category of challenges were emotional challenges, which included a lack of self-care for social workers. Policies and practices are recommended to address the identified challenges to ensure that social workers are empowered to implement foster care services that are child-centred and needs-based.