Africa-Press – Botswana. Placing children under alternative care should be the last option as it exposed them to physical, psychological, emotional anAtant, said in Selebi Phikwe Monday that children deprived of parental care were in danger.
Addressing social workers and other stakeholders during a workshop organised by Childline Botswana he said every child had the right to grow up in a supportive family environment.
Taking any child to SOS or any institution should therefore be considered only after exhausting other options, he said.
Mr Semommung said reintegration of children placed under alternative care should be prioritsed to ensure they returned to their biological families.
According to the consultant, evidence showed that family and community-based forms of care were more likely to meet children’s needs than the institutional kind.
He called for the strengthening of families to prevent family-child separation as well as the improvement of child protection and welfare.
Every child should live in a supportive, protective and caring environment that helped them develop to their full potential, he said.
Touching on foster care, Childline Botswana social worker Ms Seitebatso Kegakilwe stated that it was not an adoption process but only a temporary solution.
Under foster care, she said, a child was placed in the care of a person who was not their parent or guardian through an order of the children’s court.
It was used to provide temporary care while parents got help sorting out problems and often children returned home once the problems had been resolved, she said.
Ms Kegakilwe said children placed under foster care included those who were abused, neglected, abandoned or whose parents were incarcerated or hospitalised leaving them without any carer.
She revealed that Childline Botswana, in partnership with the Department of Social Protection piloted a foster care programme in the Kweneng, South East and Gaborone districts some 16 years ago.
It was only successful in the Kweneng District, she said.
Ms Kegakilwe said the project was extended to Tutume, North East, Southern and Boteti districts last year with plans to include Serowe, Palapye, Selebi Phikwe, Tonota and Bobonong this year.
Selebi Phikwe has a total of 458 registered vulnerable children who are assisted with basic needs, school amenities and psychological support.
For More News And Analysis About Botswana Follow Africa-Press
