Foster care backlog amongst social workers in the Capricorn District, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

A relational foster care in South Africa is perceived to be the best and most widely applied form of alternative care for children in need of care and protection. It involves an out-of-home arrangement for full-time care by relatives such as grandparents or uncles and aunts, or tribe members, godparents, or others who are not a child's parent but have a family relationship with the child. It is aimed to protect and nurture foster children by providing a safe, caring, and healthy environment with positive support. The most concerning issue about foster care in South Africa is backlog. The Department of Social Development has been battling with foster care backlog resulting to families’ quality of life being affected and compromised. Therefore, this study was aimed to explore factors contributing to foster care backlog amongst social workers in the Capricorn District of the Limpopo Province in South Africa. Qualitative and case study designs were employed using a convenient sampling technique to select twelve social workers who participated in this study. Semi-structured interviews guided by an interview schedule were used to collect data which was analysed thematically through the Nvivo software. Findings revealed factors such as personnel capacity and non-specialisation, operational system of the children’s courts, shortage of working resources or tools of trade, lack of cooperation from clients and screening process as contributing to foster care backlog. Foster care in general requires collaborative efforts of all role players so as to mitigate its backlog within social work offices.