Child Welfare hosts 68th AGM
“If all subsidies were to cease from DSD, we could keep the social services and the educare running for at least six months."
Child Welfare SA – Edenvale and Bedfordview’s committee members were voted in when the organisation held its 68th annual general meeting.
Held on September 14, the AGM saw Pieter le Roux, Nikki van der Walt, Keith Cosser, Heather Hart, Yvonne Kruger, Fiona Pickett and Linda Jordaan voted in as committee members.
Pieter and Nikki retained the positions of chairperson and vice-chairperson respectively.
Over the past year, the organisation was fairly successful in terms of fund-raising and the collection of donations at the 2018 festival of lights, a Keepfit dance event and collection drive by the Dowerglen Spar.
“Increases were received from the Department of Social Development (DSD) for social services, but no increase for educare,” said Pieter.
He described welfare to be in a fortunate position.
“If all subsidies were to cease from DSD, we could keep the social services and the educare running for at least six months.
“We aim to be in a position that would ensure at least 10 months of business as usual.”
Some improvements made to the welfare over the past year included:
• The creation of a boardroom.
• Replacing all curtains with blinds.
• Repainting the inside of the premises.
• Installing a gate motor.
• Replacing an outdated alarm system.
A lowlight of the previous year which Pieter identified was the retirement of Celeste Thies, the welfare’s senior social worker.
He said with over 20 years of being with Child Welfare SA – Edenvale and Bedfordview, Celeste left big shoes to fill.
“Celeste’s position was filled by Rangarirai Mkumbira, who took over the role with ease and professionalism.”
Pieter explained that since Celeste’s retirement, Rangarirai and fellow social worker Jaimie Penny absorbed the workload.
“The social workers still spend the majority of their workdays at the courts.
“This problem is not unique to Edenvale Child Welfare, but a general problem with all social workers.”
He said Rangarirai and Jaimie are doing their utmost to resolve all cases that come their way.
Social services
In the social services report, Rangarirai said the mandate to provide child protection and welfare services in Edenvale and Bedfordview was fulfilled in the past year.
She said the social workers will continue to provide child protection services and welfare services
“The number of incidents in our service area is lower than the number reported at other branches.
“However we experienced an increase in the number of abandoned children (babies) and substance abuse-related cases in the area.”
She urged community members to never turn a blind eye on child abuse, child neglect, child endangerment, etc.
Social workers from the welfare work closely with schools such as Dunvegan, Hurlyvale and Klopperpark primary schools.
At the schools, social workers provide counselling services and learner support programmes.
During the year, Child Welfare had a meeting with the school counsellors from the various schools in its service area.
The counsellors were informed about the process of reporting cases and what the requirements or expectations are when they report cases to the welfare for investigation.
“After the meeting, we noticed that schools were implementing what we agreed. This helps us identify the more severe cases which require our immediate intervention.”
Rangarirai highlighted working with the schools resulted in a positive impact on the children and families, as early intervention services are provided.
As the organisation has limited facilities where children are placed for care and protection, Rangarirai encouraged community members to be more involved with the organisation.
Ways this can be done include volunteering their services at the organisation or opening their homes to provide places of safety or alternative care for children in need.
The following categories of services make up the majority of the social workers’ caseloads per month:
Foster care supervision cases: 97
Family reunification: 19
Uncontrollable children: 23
Neglected children: 6
Sexually abused children: 1
Abandoned children: 13
Custody/assess disputes: 35
Other services: 36
Currently, the welfare is subsidised to have two social workers, one auxiliary social worker and a psychologist.
Rangarirai said it would be beneficial if another social worker could be employed at the welfare, but financial restrictions prevent the welfare from doing so.
“Besides assistance from DSD, we also rely on businesses and community members for financial support.
“This is much appreciated and goes a long way.”
Rangarirai said the welfare recently submitted its application to The National Lotteries Fund and is awaiting feedback and funding.
“Child Welfare SA Gauteng has come on board and is trying to provide support on the social work side of things, though progress is still very slow.”
As social workers, Rangarirai and Jaimie must constantly develop and improve their skills.
This is often done through professional training.
“It is usually difficult for us to attend training due to time factors and financial constraints as most of the courses are very costly.
“It would be beneficial if we could have some form of support with regards to the training.”
Pinocchio Educare Centre
At the time the AGM was held, the centre had 53 learners enrolled.
The children were divided into classes taught by Maria Matthias (15), Nonkululeko Langa (15) and Loné Muller (23).
In February, the educare centre registered with the Department of Education and re-registered with DSD.
Inspections were carried out by the education and health departments and everything was found to be in order.
Pieter thanked the staff at the welfare for their continued hard work and dedication, and the community members, stakeholders and businesses for the assistance throughout the year.
Visit www.edenvalechildwelfare.co.za, send and email to administrator@edenvalechildwelfare.co.za or call 011 452 5940/1 for more information or to assist the welfare.
