THE FOSTER CARE BACKLOG: A THREAT TO THE RETENTION OF SOCIAL WORKERS?

Social workers are seen as a key resource in addressing the needs of South African society (Department of Social Development, 2009:7). The Department of Social Development (DSD) employs the bulk of social workers in the country to implement policies and programmes targeting, for example, poverty, un...

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Main Authors: Phindile Ngwenya, Petro Botha
Format: Article
Language:Afrikaans
Published: Stellenbosch University 2012-06-01
Series:Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk
Online Access:https://socialwork.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/99
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author Phindile Ngwenya
Petro Botha
author_facet Phindile Ngwenya
Petro Botha
author_sort Phindile Ngwenya
collection DOAJ
description Social workers are seen as a key resource in addressing the needs of South African society (Department of Social Development, 2009:7). The Department of Social Development (DSD) employs the bulk of social workers in the country to implement policies and programmes targeting, for example, poverty, unemployment and HIV/AIDS. However, the government is faced with an overwhelming demand for services and the inability of social workers to cope with these demands. According to the Recruitment and Retention Strategy for Social Workers (Department of Social Development, 2009:7), this lack of capacity is the result of a critical problem with the recruitment of social workers and the fact that recruited social workers cannot be retained either in the government or within the profession in general. Social workers move between the government, NGOs, and the private and corporate sectors. Social workers also migrate to other fields or other countries because of better job opportunities. The Department of Social Development (2009:7) acknowledges the role of the poor working conditions of social workers: “The inability of the sector to retain social workers is further exacerbated by lack of support and the poor working conditions that social workers are subjected to, which often lead to burnout and inability to render effective services.”
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spelling doaj.art-6f71f5251cb842118c8626684dbd92d42022-12-22T03:39:45ZafrStellenbosch UniversitySocial Work/Maatskaplike Werk0037-80542312-71982012-06-0148211610.15270/48-2-99THE FOSTER CARE BACKLOG: A THREAT TO THE RETENTION OF SOCIAL WORKERS?Phindile Ngwenya0Petro Botha1Social Development, Johannesburg Regional Office.Department of Social Work, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.Social workers are seen as a key resource in addressing the needs of South African society (Department of Social Development, 2009:7). The Department of Social Development (DSD) employs the bulk of social workers in the country to implement policies and programmes targeting, for example, poverty, unemployment and HIV/AIDS. However, the government is faced with an overwhelming demand for services and the inability of social workers to cope with these demands. According to the Recruitment and Retention Strategy for Social Workers (Department of Social Development, 2009:7), this lack of capacity is the result of a critical problem with the recruitment of social workers and the fact that recruited social workers cannot be retained either in the government or within the profession in general. Social workers move between the government, NGOs, and the private and corporate sectors. Social workers also migrate to other fields or other countries because of better job opportunities. The Department of Social Development (2009:7) acknowledges the role of the poor working conditions of social workers: “The inability of the sector to retain social workers is further exacerbated by lack of support and the poor working conditions that social workers are subjected to, which often lead to burnout and inability to render effective services.”https://socialwork.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/99
spellingShingle Phindile Ngwenya
Petro Botha
THE FOSTER CARE BACKLOG: A THREAT TO THE RETENTION OF SOCIAL WORKERS?
Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk
title THE FOSTER CARE BACKLOG: A THREAT TO THE RETENTION OF SOCIAL WORKERS?
title_full THE FOSTER CARE BACKLOG: A THREAT TO THE RETENTION OF SOCIAL WORKERS?
title_fullStr THE FOSTER CARE BACKLOG: A THREAT TO THE RETENTION OF SOCIAL WORKERS?
title_full_unstemmed THE FOSTER CARE BACKLOG: A THREAT TO THE RETENTION OF SOCIAL WORKERS?
title_short THE FOSTER CARE BACKLOG: A THREAT TO THE RETENTION OF SOCIAL WORKERS?
title_sort foster care backlog a threat to the retention of social workers
url https://socialwork.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/99
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