Manager’s Report
November 2023
I want to thank the board members, sponsors and volunteers who support Durbanville Children’s Home. Your assistance has helped me to grow the Durbanville Children’s Home program in 2023 and has given me the confidence to visualise the changes I want to bring about in 2024.
Working in a child and youth care centre like Durbanville Children’s Home is a privilege. Looking after 144 children’s individual needs within a large care facility is both challenging and rewarding. Our program has to be reviewed and adapted continuously in order to meet the needs of our children optimally.
We can draw strength from the fact that we are celebrating 140 years or rendering care to vulnerable children.
One of our biggest challenges is that our children attend 38 different schools, some as far as Ysterplaat and Atlantis. As you can imagine, the logistics around getting children to and from school every day is a daunting task. Some of the buses only arrive back at Durbanville Children’s Home after 17h00 in the afternoon.
Often when children are admitted into our care, they are behind in their schooling for various reasons. This makes placing them in a school very difficult as they are frequently too old for the grade and schools are not willing to accommodate children who are more than two years behind. For this reason, in 2023 alone we had 11 children attending our informal school on-site, whilst waiting for a school placement. We are extremely grateful to Klipheuwel Primary School which has agreed to accommodate all our learners who have not yet received a school placement, including those who are behind on their grades, as well as new children who will be admitted going forward. This is a huge blessing!
This is the first year we have had a school leavers’ house, which accommodates children who are 17 years and older and are either finishing school or are in their last year of care. The benefits of such a program are clear. Our children are equipped with skills that facilitate them in being more independent and ready to face the world. We conducted a strategic session on 15 November 2023, where the program was reviewed, and we looked at even more innovative ideas to further equip our school leavers with the ability to live independently and to take responsibility for their futures.
Children placed in our care have emotional and psychological challenges due to the trauma that they have endured. These challenges have to be addressed through therapeutic interventions. We recognize that the need for therapy in our environment is non-negotiable. Therefore, we want to expand our intervention into our children’s lives. We would like to appoint a part-time therapist to assist our children next year, and we would need additional funding in order to make this much-needed resource a reality.
Accommodating children in satellite houses in the community is a preferred way of caring for vulnerable children. We registered a request at the Department of Housing as far back as 2010 and this project is now in its planning stages. We hope to add two more satellite houses in 2025, should the proposal be approved.
In our student program, we are blessed to have three children who completed their studies this year, and a further four children are enrolling in tertiary institutions in 2024. Another part of this program is assisting our children in finding employment and growing into self-reliant adults. Currently these students and young adults are housed in rooms behind Durbanville Children’s Home. This area is not optimal, and we would like to improve its functioning to better suit the needs of the children and the program’s overall implementation.
We have completed the renovation of the bathroom areas in our 12 housing units and are now focusing on the revamping of the kitchens and bedrooms.
We are proud to say that 11 child and youth care workers have been busy with their qualifications in child and youth care this year. Six CYCWs have completed their NQF 4 certificates and five are still busy with their NQF 5 certificates.
Four of our children were awarded WP colours in sport and three of our girls received SA colours in karate.
I would like to thank all the members of the board for contributing so much to Durbanville Children’s Home – we appreciate your time, and your wisdom, and your concern. Yes, we fulfill an important role within society, and we cannot do it without your help!
Johanna Strauss
Manager: Durbanville Children’s Home