The Greater Germiston Society for Child and Family Welfare was established in 1912.
Initially it aimed at meeting the material needs of families in the Germiston community.
Concern was also raised at the time about the high rate of young children who were dying in South Africa, child labour and child neglect due to poverty.
The changes in welfare service delivery impacted on the organisation and in 1945, the first social worker was appointed.
In 1958 the name of the organisation was changed to “Kindersorgvereniging”.
In 1974 the first coloured social worker was appointed followed by the first African social worker in 1992.
Service rendering has kept up with the changes in social service delivery and the organisation has developed into a fully developed and functional welfare organisation rendering professional social services.
The initial reasons for the establishment of the organisation still exist (poverty, child abuse etc) and are still significant problems in the communities being served by the organisation.
Services have developed and the society has expanded its human capacity, as well as its overall resources and abilities ensuring that current service rendering is reaching the most marginalised communities in Germiston, including communities that in the past were not being served effectively.
“Our services are necessitated by the increased need for statutory intervention pertaining to not only orphaned but also vulnerable children,” said Barbara Bouwer, director of Germiston Child Welfare.
“The majority of our caseload currently consists of supervision services to vulnerable and orphaned children placed in foster care and more recently involvement in court ordered investigations in terms of the new Child Care Legislation.
“Child protection, however, remains the core business of the organisation as child abuse, both physical and sexual, remains a concern as there is not a decrease in these crimes but a continued increase as once again emphasised by recent murders of toddlers and other risk situations our children are being exposed to.
“Children orphaned by the death of one or both or their parents/guardian/caregivers are vulnerable and at a higher risk of being abused.”
The Greater Germiston Society for Child and Family Welfare has a proud history in the rendering of welfare services in the Germiston area.
The organisation is a well-established and well-known resource in the welfare sector and has added significant value to the provision of social services in the mentioned communities.
The society offers the following services: non-statutory family care; foster care; related foster care; emergency care; family reunification services; a school-based support programme and school holiday programmes.
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