Susan Fouché, a final-year social work student at NG Welfare Potchefstroom, is launching a community work programme on foster care. The programme aims to inform the public about foster care and recruit potential foster parents. She is writing a series of articles in the Herald to make people aware of all the aspects surrounding foster care.

This week’s focus is on the criteria that must be met for a child to be removed from his/her biological parents.

When does a child need care and protection?

When a family’s circumstances and current situation are investigated after someone has reported a problem or an incident, and the social worker deems the child to need care and protection. One of the options is to remove the child from the circumstances.

When a social worker makes the difficult decision to remove a child from his or her biological family, this decision must be based on the following criteria as determined by the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 (Section 150 (1) and (2)):

*The child has been abandoned or orphaned and cannot support him/herself,

*The child displays behaviour that the parent or caregiver cannot control,

*The child lives or works on the streets or begs for a living,

*The child is addicted to a dependence-producing substance and is without any support to obtain treatment for such dependency,

*The child has been exploited or lives in circumstances that expose them to exploitation,

*The child lives in or is exposed to circumstances that may seriously harm them physically, mentally, or their social wellbeing,

*The child may be at risk if returned to the custody of the parent, guardian, or caregiver of the child as there is reason to believe he or she will live in or be exposed to circumstances that may seriously harm the physical, mental, or social well-being of the child,

*The child is in a state of physical or mental neglect or

*The child is being maltreated, abused, deliberately neglected, or degraded by a parent, a caregiver, a person with parental responsibilities and rights or a family member of the child or by a person under whose control the child is.

*The child is a victim of child labour,

*The child is in a child-headed household. It is essential to understand that these criteria are not the only reasons for removing a child from their family. A thorough investigation must be done, considering all circumstances.

If you want to learn more about the fostering process or becoming a foster parent or providing a place of safety for children who have been removed from their parents, contact NG Welfare at 018 297 7347 or potch.admin@ngwelfare.co.za.