Addressing challenges faced by social workers in providing family reunification services to children in out of home care: a South African perspective

In a bid to reunify children in out of home care with their families of origin, social workers in South Africa face a plethora of challenges ranging from institutional and infrastructural barriers to human resource and relationship challenges. Drawing from the findings of an exploratory sequential mixed methods study conducted in child protection organisations, this paper highlights ways of addressing challenges faced by social workers in providing family reunification services. Data was collected from social workers by means of interviews and questionnaires and analysed using thematic analysis and descriptive statistics. The findings indicate that ways of addressing challenges faced by social workers in providing family reunification services are: refresher training courses for foster parents, regular contact between social workers and parents, life skills training for birth parents, and a family reunification plan. The conclusion is that social workers are aware of what needs to be done to address challenges they face in providing family reunification services to children in out of home care.