"An organisation in South Africa's Kwazulu-Natal province plans to build an AIDS orphan village to take the burden off grandmothers, who are frequently the main caretakers of an ever-growing number of these children."
PlusNews, 12 October 2004
"I would never want my grandson to go to a children's home. I just wish I had enough money for mealie meal so that it never ran short."
Grandmother, Limpopo province
Models of care for children in the context of HIV/AIDS are typically viewed along a continuum, with clear value attached to preferred options and with little understanding of areas of overlap. This project explores the forms that 'the last resort' - residential care for children - is currently taking in the face of the AIDS pandemic in South Africa, and considers these forms in relation to South African policy and legislation. In particular, the project focuses on residential care set-ups that have emerged out of, and in response to the needs of, community-based initiatives.
Institutional care is widely referred to as the 'last resort' in responding to the care needs of children, not only because of the negative impact on children of long-term institutionalisation, but also because of the costs of raising a child in an institution. Despite this, residential care facilities for children - and in particular for 'AIDS orphans' - continue to mushroom in South Africa. Many of these newer facilities are unregistered. As a result, their services are unmonitored and unsupported by the Department of Social Development.
This research project set out to examine this phenomenon, and the reasons why residential facilities multiply and endure despite policy, law and the international child welfare sector's position on the issue.
The research was conducted by the Children's Institute in collaboration with the Centre for the Study of AIDS at the University of Pretoria, and is funded by the Rockerfeller Brothers Foundation.
Related publications
Home truths: The phenomenon of residential care for children in a time of AIDS
click hereMeintjes H, Moses S, Berry L & Mapane R (2007)
Children’s Institute, University of Cape Town & Centre for the Study of AIDS, University of Pretoria, June 2007.