When a baby is born, he or she does not come with a manual. I know many of us may have wished at one point, that our children had come into this world with a “How to...” manual since this would have made parenting a little bit easier. However, our foster children are very special since they have been through a lot of life’s turmoil like abuse, neglect, abandonment and extreme poverty, as a result before one can be considered to be a foster parent, it is compulsory to undergo training. This training acts like a manual and is aimed at assisting the foster parents who avail themselves for this fundamental role to play their role effectively.
Who are foster parents?
Foster parents are individuals who open their homes and volunteer to look after children who are in need of care and protection. To qualify to be a foster parent one must be a South African citizen or a permanent resident and must not have a criminal record. A screening process is conducted by social workers and if one qualifies then they undergo training. At CWSA: Roodepoort this training is conducted once a month and is held at different venues (within the communities we serve). The two ladies at the helm of this training are Maria Sebole and Rebecca Khumalo, two passionate and dedicated Social Auxiliary Workers. The 2018 training commenced in March, in Tshepisong. In April, the training was conducted in Slovoville and in May, it will be conducted in Doornkop. In June, it will be Braamfischer’s turn, followed by Dobsonville in July.
The training program covers topics such as Parenting Styles and Effective Discipline (leaning heavily on the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 as amended), Rights and Responsibilities of Foster Parents, Savings, Funeral Cover and Insurance, just to name a few. The whole programme is geared at equipping foster parents with the skills needed in order to raise children who have gone through trauma, abuse or loss so that they lead normal lives like their peers. The program also prevents children in need of care from being subjected to secondary abuse by their foster parents.
Just as the bird that sits on a branch, because it has faith in its wings (if the branch should break), in the same way, the foster parents’ training guides and strengthens foster parents to have confidence in themselves as they tackle this challenging and yet rewarding role.
As the Department of Social Development strives to move away from the Child and Youth Care Centre Model to a Foster Care Model so as to enable orphaned and vulnerable children to lead a normal life, in a family setting like their peers, we appeal for more and more people to volunteer to be foster parents.
