Social development summit tackles backlogs in foster grants
The Gauteng Department of Social Development is under immense pressure to clear out administration glitches that could cause thousands of children not to receive their foster grants. This surfaced during a foster care summit held by the department in Turffontein‚ where social workers‚ magistrates and officials of the SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) engaged to find solutions on bottlenecks that victimise children that are abandoned or orphaned.In May 2011‚ the Pretoria High Court ordered the national Department of Social Development (DSD) to complete an update of court orders that were outstanding for Sassa to pay grants. The department had to also get its house in order so that the problems did not reoccur. The court also ordered Sassa to continue paying children despite having expired court orders up until December 2014.However‚ the department could not meet this deadline and asked for an extension which it secured. The court gave the department until December 2017to conclude its processes.When a child is abandoned or orphaned‚ a social worker has to assess the conditions of the child to see if they need to be placed under care. If the social worker is satisfied that the child needs care‚ a report is presented to the court‚ which makes an order that the child must be placed under the care of the foster parents. It is this order that allows Sassa to pay the foster grants. The order is valid for two years.There are currently 56 800 children receiving foster grants in Gauteng and over 22 000 must have their court orders extended by December 2017. The backlog was created by a shortage of social workers and resources within DSD.Jane Jooster‚ manager of grant administration at Sassa‚ told the summit that government had to do all it could to clear these backlogs as this had serious implications of the lives of children.“Children are our future...A lot of these children are only eating if they get that money‚” said Jane.The summit also heard that when the grants elapsed‚ foster parents‚ in most cases‚ became reluctant to keep the children. – TMG Digital..
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