Government-funded programmes and services for vulnerable - Unicef

Department of Social Development
community care worker (CCW) activity across the departments of Health and Social
Development. The principle is to have a single approach to CCWs, without creating
multiple cadres who essentially perform similar generic tasks, and to skill up CCWs to
offer a wider and more comprehensive range of services.
Lack of effective coordination and reliable data
There are a host of departments that must work together to ensure the delivery of
effective child protection services, including the departments of Social Development,
Justice, Education, Health, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the South African
Police Services (SAPS). Poor coordination between these different departments impacts
negatively on the provision of effective and comprehensive child protection services
(Giese & Sanders 2008).
The DoSD is responsible for leading the coordination of different stakeholders and has
established a number of coordinating structures, including the National Child Care and
Protection Forum and the national, provincial and local child protection committees. The
effectiveness of these structures is undermined by factors such as lack of protocols, erratic
attendance of government departments and poor communication (Giese & Sanders 2008).
A key challenge to all child protection services and programmes is the lack of reliable
national and sub-national data on child protection issues that could help inform and
better target programmes.
There are two sources of child protection data in South Africa. SAPS provides annual
statistics of crimes committed against children. The Child Protection Register, compiled by
the national DoSD, provides annual overall statistics which are disaggregated according to
provinces. Both sources are deemed unreliable. SAPS data are dependent on the accuracy
of police reporting. The Child Protection Register relies on reporting from the provinces.
There is general consensus that the information provided by provinces must be treated
with caution. Dawes et al. (2006) express the concern of many when they state that,
‘Current data on the CPR [Child Protection Register] cannot be regarded as [an] accurate,
valid and reliable record of reported child abuse’ (in Chames et al. 2010: xii).
Chames et al. (2010) note that the DoSD is mindful of this problem and has sought to
address it through a five-year research study on child abuse, neglect and exploitation
called the National Child Protection Surveillance Study.
The DoSD’s draft Child Protection Strategic Plan 2010/11–2014/15 commits the
Department ‘[t]o ensure the development of a research policy framework for child abuse,
neglect and exploitation’. It further recognises that:
Ongoing coordinated research in the field of child abuse, neglect and
exploitation is needed. A national clearing house must be established to invest
in research to illuminate the magnitude of the problem, the cause, parties
involved, intervention patterns and outcomes. The clearing house must be
accorded a mandate to address all the methodological, legal and ethical issues
in the child protection field. An accessible and updated data base must be
established. Provide sustainable CANE [child abuse, neglect and exploitation]
programmes which facilitate the empowerment of children including children
with disabilities and chronic illness… (DoSD 2010b: 75)
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