Question NW1094 to the Minister of Social Development

Reply:

The Department is providing psychosocial support to orphaned and child – headed households through the following community-based services :

• Food and Nutrition: The Child and Youth Care Workers provides a safety net for children within their communities and where they can access food when the food provision in their families is insecure or where the children are at risk of stunting and malnutrition. This service thus improve the children’s food security & nutrition intake by ensuring access to community nutrition opportunities (cooked meals, food parcels, and food vouchers).
• Educational Support: This support is aimed at increasing access to and attendance of schools through for example, supporting children to overcome obstacles to attendance – such as lack of school uniform, transport, lack of parental support for schooling and to support children in their educational performance. Furthermore, children are assisted to develop post-matric plans and to access tertiary education.
• Economic strengthening: The service aims at supporting and increasing the economic base of households through facilitating access to social security grants, entrepreneurial and other economic strengthening activities.
• Health promotion: This service is aimed at empowering children and adolescents to access health care services consistently. Improve children’s health through better access to health care, promote and support access to sexual reproductive health services for girls and boys, and the early identification and support to children with disabilities, promote and support good water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) habits.
• HIV and AIDS services: The services are aimed at reducing children’s risk of contracting HIV by improved HIV awareness and sexuality education, promoting known HIV status of children, support ART uptake and adherence and mitigating sexual and substance risk-taking behaviour of adolescents.
• Social behaviour change groups: The children are referred to these programmes which are aimed at promoting positive life changes. The groups such as YOLO, Chommy, Family matters, counselling sessions and loss and Grief Support.

If further intervention is required, these target groups are being referred to the Social Workers for by Child and Youth Care Workers for further assistance.