Foster Care is not about free money, that’s according to the Gauteng Department of Social Development, Social Work Supervisor, Refilwe Mogwera.

She was addressing residents of Khutsong during a Foster Care Awareness Campaign at Khutsong Bible Church, on Friday.

She said, “We are here to give you information to understand what foster care is because many think that it is about money. There are children whose parents passed away and some were abandoned; as a department we assist them to get temporally care. Today we will give you all the steps you need to follow”, said Mogwera.

The child must be under 18 years of age and/or: Have been abandoned or orphaned and be without any visible means of support in order to qualify for foster care. He/She must display behavior which cannot be controlled by the parent or care-giver. And be living on the streets or begging for a living”, Social Worker, Tshegofatso Renqe explain.

A representative from the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) Kate Malefetse said, “SASSA gives different kinds of grants. But today we will only talk about foster grant. Malefetse added that we only pay the grant after you have gone through the whole process with Social Workers.

For us to pay you, you need to bring a court order from the Children’s Court an amount of R1000.00 will be paid for a qualifying child. We also investigate whether you misuse the grant or not. If a child drops out of school, we suspend the grant.

Social Workers also highlighted the difficulties they come across when dealing with cases of Foster Care. Renqe said some Foster Parents refuse to take children back to the biological parents when they are used to the foster grant.

When a foster child exceeds the age of 18 he or she is no longer entitled to remain a beneficiary. If the foster child still attends school can qualify up to the age of 21. People should understand foster care grant is not permanent and the purpose of this grant is to look after foster child’s well-being because some families take it as a source of income.

Source: Gauteng Province