Sparrows is not a Secure Care facility. This is an extract from the Blueprint. Only sections that apply to Child and Youth Care Centres apply to Sparrows.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS
ACRONYMS
INTRODUCTION
APPROACH
THE PROPOSED FUTURE
IMPLEMENTING THE BLUEPRINT
MONITORING AND EVALUATION
CONCLUSION

1 Glossary of terms

Alternative care: placement or confinement of child outside the family network for some clear and agreed purpose.

Behaviour management: The professional process of enabling a child to gain inner control of themselves and behave with dignity is called behaviour management. Professional behaviour management does not include any form of punishment. The elements of "influence", relationship, respect, support, guidance and behaviour management strategies combine to provide the developmental strength they need.

Business plan: A business plan is a document that summarizes the operational and financial objectives of an organisation and contains the detailed plans and budgets showing how the objectives are to be realized.

Blueprint: A guide to develop and manage the secure care programme in South Africa.

Care: The safeguarding and promotion of the child's physical, social and emotional safety and development at all times.

Care Plan: A plan which has been developed on the basis of a developmental assessment and which aims to provide life-long relationships within their family or appropriate alternative, and re-integration in the community within the shortest possible time-frame.

Care programme: The concept of "care" is quite frequently misunderstood to mean custodial care, i.e. feeding children, keeping them clean, and putting them to bed. As the very core of child and youth care work, it refers to the complex process of facilitating learning and improved function, e.g. while a young person or group of young people are eating, dressing, going to school, doing their homework, going to bed, playing, socialising, learning, or doing their chores etc., they are emotionally, physically, and socially safe and they are enabled to achieve their developmental goals and objectives. This is essentially the same process which lies at the heart of competent parenting.

Child: A person under the age of 18 years.

Child in conflict with the law: Children suspected of committing a crime (arrested), awaiting trial and awaiting designation to a reform school.

Child and youth care system: the range of services providing alternative care, education and therapeutic development for children and youth as well as providing care services.

Child and youth care centres: facilities that provide alternative care to children in need of care in a therapeutic, developmental milieu with focus on all the needs of the children in terms of their physical, spiritual, social, emotional and educational needs.

Community-based programme: A programme which allows a child to remain in the community whilst attending the programme.

Continuity of care: The continuum of care involves the various placement options for young people between the ages of 0-18 years. These options range from the least restrictive (such as extended family or foster care), to slightly more restriction (such as shelters and child and youth care residential centres), to the most restrictive (such as secure care).

Disengagement: Young people are provided with the appropriate rituals, programmes, and support to enable their effective transition from one level of the system to another, from one relationship to another, from one setting to another, from one group to another, and/or to enable their integration into their family and community.

Developmental assessment: may be broadly described as the process of identifying strengths and the developmental needs of the young person and family from a strengths perspective, planning with the young person and referring the young person to the appropriate programmes (which is always the least restrictive and most empowering for the specific young person's developmental and therapeutic needs) and resources within the boundaries of the legal requirements concerning that young person. Assessment should never be undertaken by fewer than 2 persons.

Development programme: Developmental programmes include the development of hard and soft skills that would assist the children to adjust in their different environments.

Diversion: diversion of a matter involving a child away from the formal court procedures in a criminal matter.

Individual development plan: The individual development plan indicates the types of services/programmes and specific interventions that the child should be exposed to, the individual development goals, the child's strengths, interests and wishes, the family strengths, the estimated length of participation in the programmes, anticipated follow-up services and documentation of input from the young person, family and others involved.

Life space: Child and youth care workers work in the life-space of children and youth. The term "life-space" has a similar meaning to living environment, situation or context. There are many elements in young people's environments which impact on their lives in one way or another. Every event, object or person within the home environment, child and youth care programme, school or community can affect a young person's daily living and constitutes (makes up) part of her/his "life-space".

Operational plan: An operational plan is a description of how the work will be done and the flow of work from input to end results.

Probation officer: Person who is appointed by a minister, and has statutory authority to give evidence regarding children and adults to the children's and other courts, to make recommendations regarding sentence and/or treatment, to exercise supervision and control and to draw up measures to prevent crime.

Restorative justice: a conflict resolution model which focuses on healing and accountability rather than punishment, and which involves the participation of the community surrounding an incident (IMC) means an approach to justice that aims to involve the child offender, the victim, the families concerned and community members to collectively identify harms, needs and obligations through accepting responsibility, making restitution, taking measures to prevent a recurrence of the incident and promoting reconciliation.

Secure care: (as described in the Children's Act) A secure centre is a residential facility and/or programme of intervention which ensures the appropriate physical, behavioural and emotional containment of young people who are charged with crimes and who are awaiting trial or sentenced. Such a facility provides an environment, milieu and programme conducive to the care, safety and healthy development of each young person while at the same time ensuring the protection of communities.

Strategic plan: Strategic planning is a process of defining its direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people.

Therapeutic programme: In the context of secure care programme a therapeutic programme focuses on the emotional and psychological needs of the client and is provided by a professional person with extensive training, using advance knowledge, specialised strategies and techniques.

2 Acronyms

BP - Blueprint
BPRIAM - Business processes, risk and immovable assets management
CSO - Civil Society Organization
CYCS - Child and Youth Care System
CYCC - Child and Youth Care System
DQA - Developmental Quality Assurance
FGC - Family Group Conference
IDP - Individual Development plan
IMC - Inter-ministerial committee on young people at risk
ISDM - Integrated Service Delivery Model
JDL - Juveniles Deprived of Liberty
NGO - Nongovernmental Organization
SAPS - South African Police Service
SCP - Social Crime Prevention
TCYCS - Transformation of Child and Youth Care System

3 Introduction

The care and protection of children awaiting trial is the responsibility of the Department of Social Development. Whilst huge strides have been made since 2000, by the Department to provide this service to as many children as possible to prevent their detention in police cells for more than 48 hours, the actual provision of services is not in accordance to the ethos of service delivery, the principles and rights of children. It is against this backdrop that a Department of Social Development (Social Crime Prevention Directorate) identified a need to develop a blueprint for secure care Facilities in South Africa.

South Africa is implementing a Children's Act, 2005 and it is the opportune time to bring about the changes that need to be made to fulfil the intentions of this Act in the care and protection of children. Secure care programme is seen as one of the programmes that make up the Child and Youth care system of South Africa.

The Child and youth care system transformation programme was one of the first reform programmes initiated in 1995. Considerable effort and resources were utilised to develop TCYCS an inter-sectoral Policy that would guide practice in all residential facilities, as well as for children placed in alternative care. This policy was strengthened with the development of minimum norms and standards. The expectation and outcome of the implementation of this policy together with the minimum norms and standards was the delivery of improved quality care services to the children in residential facilities and to those in alternative care. Secure care facilities were included in the Child and Youth Care System, and therefore were targeted as one of the programmes that had to transform according to this policy and implement minimum norms and standards for quality care.

During the first years of implementation it appeared that a systematic approach to implementation was being pursued. The capacity to transform and implement the policy was built through training programmes to all the provinces. Additional support staff were trained and employed to improve the programme. Additional funding to build new facilities was sourced and priority was given to this programme by all the provincial departments. However, the process lost momentum and minimum monitoring and evaluation took place, with the result that the current situation at provincial level shows an inconsistent picture with the intentions of the policy.

Whilst it was expected that all secure care facilities would be following the transformation agenda as outlined in the TCYCS Inter-sectoral Policy and implementing norms and standards to improve care to children, the care that children are receiving falls far short of the vision for secure care centres as outlined in the transformation agenda.

The blueprint is therefore an attempt to put forward a comprehensive model for secure care in South Africa. This blueprint contains all the elements that are needed in the development of a secure care programme.

It outlines the concept of secure care in South Africa in order for all role-players to have the same understanding of the secure care programme.
It identifies the origins of the programme and therefore outlines the legislative frameworks that give rise to the mandate of the Department to deliver such a service.
It outlines the importance of inter-sectoral collaboration
It recommends the design principles for the structure of a secure care facility
It outlines the approach for the development of such a programme in terms of the development of such a service, the institutional framework to deliver on the service, the programme and its components that is necessary to ensure that a programme of such a nature has the capacity to deliver a quality service to children awaiting trial.
It concludes with the norms and standards with practise guideline against which service delivery can be standardised, measured and improved.
An implementation plan framework forms part of this document.

4 Approach

In completing this exercise, a comprehensive data gathering exercise was embarked upon.

A literature review was undertaken to obtain the current situation of secure care as a programme in South Africa. This literature review also studied and analysed best practices in seven countries, namely New Zealand, Holland, Brazil, Canada, British Columbia, Quebec and Prince Edward Island. It was expected that this literature review would yield lessons that could be replicated within the South African context. The next step in the project was to develop a situational analysis of current secure care programmes. In order to undertake this research, a set of data collection tools were developed. A proforma set of norms and standards were generated to give us a sense of what the challenges were in terms of service delivery. As there are approximately 27 secure care facilities in the country, a criterion to guide the sampling process was developed by the National Department of Social Development, Directorate Social Crime Prevention to ensure that a range of programmes would be visited and audited. Eleven programmes straddling all the provinces were chosen as the sample.

A site visit was made to all the centres identified in the sample and these tools were used to guide the interviewing process as well as the collection of information. In order to have supporting information, photos of the different centres were also taken. From these site visits a situational analysis of all the facilities were compiled and a national report collating all the information was developed.

A report on the literature review and situational analysis was then presented at the workshop. This workshop was attended by provincial co-ordinators of the programme, physical planners, staff for all the secure care programmes in the country and the representatives from the national directorates (Disability, Substance abuse, victim empowerment programme, Service standards, Child protection, policy and legislation monitoring and evaluation). In order to validate the norms and standards that were originally developed a consultative workshop was held looking at the norms and standards as well as the human resource structures necessary to manage a programme of this nature. From this workshop a first set of norms and standards were developed.

From site visits, we ascertained that the norms and standards would not be sufficient to turn the programme around and thus developed as is concept document that outlined definition, terms and concepts most widely used, but meaning different things to different people, a model outline was developed as well as the national vision and mission for this programme. This concept document was developed to start the debate and dialogue about a host of issues pertaining to secure care generally and the model specifically. This paper was debated with the national steering committee first, before being taken to the broader workshop for ratification. The workshop agreed on the vision, mission and guiding principles for the blueprint, and recommended what the roles and responsibilities are of all the role players and suggested an organogram for secure care programmes. A second draft of the norms and standards were debated and amended for finalization.

The outcomes of all these workshops with the provincial co-ordinators, lessons learnt from site visits and a discussion with Civil Society Organization have been used as a basis for the development of this blueprint. The manner in which children are detained in developing countries did not yield lessons for us, and therefore there was a need to look more inwardly at our situation and use these lessons as a basis for expanding on the philosophy of transformation which was initiated in 2000.

The Department through its Directorate is developing blueprints for all the residential facilities that the Department of Social Development is responsible for. They have thus made available the services of an architect, who after several discussions with the service provider, and using the specifications of the service provider, developed building specifications for a "model" secure care facility, together with state of the art infrastructure that will guarantee a child's safety in such a facility.

4.1 Current situation of secure care in South Africa

Crime in general in South Africa causes great concern. Of even greater concern though is that the number of children committing crimes especially crimes categorized as serious crimes is on the increase. Some of the serious crimes committed by children included rape, murder and violent assault. In May 2008 according to the statistics released by the Department of Safety and Security more than 3000 children were in different places of detention in the country.

Since the crisis in 1995, the management of children in conflict with the law is the mandate of the Department of Social Development. The provinces have established a number of new facilities to accommodate children awaiting trial, as the Correctional Services Act stipulate that children and youth under the age of 18 years may not be kept in correctional service facilities. However in some provinces the demand for the service is high. Provinces have managed this demand by placing children awaiting trial with children in need of care and protection at Places of Safety. Whilst this may not be the best option, children have received improved care and protection since.

Secure care facilities are designed for short term accommodation of children awaiting trial and therefore programmes designed should address the needs of children for the time spent in the facility and add value to their rehabilitation process. The TCYCS (2000) document highlights the importance of programmes that meet the needs of children as per the following quotation "secure care facilities may be defined as a residential facility and/or programme of intervention which ensures the appropriate physical, behavioural and emotional containment of young people who are charged with crimes and who are awaiting trial or sentenced. Such a facility provides an environment, milieu and programme conducive to the care, safety and healthy development of each young person while at the same time ensuring the protection of communities".

From the visits conducted to the different secure care facilities in the provinces, it was clear that there were no standardized procedures of managing secure care facilities. It was also evident that the guidelines provided by the document on the Transformation of the Child and Youth Care System (1996) were not implemented as envisaged.

Most of the secure care facilities visited still viewed the provision of accommodation for the children awaiting trial as priority and the primary function of the facility and completely underplaying the importance of programmes. The Children's Act 35/2005 emphasises that a secure care facility should provide programmes for the children awaiting trial. These programmes must include:

Therapeutic programmes
Developmental programmes
Care programmes
Spiritual/religious programmes
Cultural programmes
Recreational programmes

Having observed the different models and programmes which largely did not represent or meet the needs of the children awaiting trial, the need for a blueprint was seen as urgent to ensure and facilitate standardization and transformation of services in secure care facilities. The purpose of the blueprint is to provide guidance in developing and managing secure care for South Africa.

A summary of findings from the sample visits conducted to the different secure care facilities in the provinces is presented. However, in order to have a greater understanding of the current situation of secure care in South Africa, the background which outlines where the programme has come from is also presented.

4.2 Background

The blueprint cannot be developed outside the understanding of what gave rise to the conceptualization of secure care facilities in South Africa. It is because of this situation outlined below that the country had to undergo legislative reform and the mandate for protecting and caring for children who are awaiting trial was initiated. This history is presented in order that the same mistakes are not made by the current service providers, and to share the institutional memory in order for those that come after, add value to the programme based on what has been.

In the 1970's and 1980's the detention of children without trial was a major concern to non-governmental organisations, parents' committees and political activists in South Africa. Towards the end of the 1980s political detention of children drew to an end, but large numbers of children continued to be held in custody awaiting trial.

Running parallel to the issue of children in conflict with the law, the Care system for those children needing care and protection was also in need of urgent transformation. The residential child and youth care system had historically been inaccessible to the majority of children and young people in the country. By the early 1990s a crisis situation had developed within the system. The crisis was linked to the lack of adequate facilities for African children, poor salaries for child and youth care workers, the lack of adequately trained managers and staff in many facilities, the inadequate subsidization of non-government facilities, and the high ratio of children to staff.

In 1994 the Government of National Unity came into power, and one of its first actions was to draft legislation to prevent the holding of awaiting trial children in prisons and police cells. The Correctional Services Amendment Act no 17 of 1994 amended section 29 of the Correctional Services Act so that children under 14 awaiting trial could never be held for longer than 24 hours, and those over 14 (but under 18) charged with serious offences (listed in a schedule to the Act) could only be held for 48 hours. The aim of the legislation was to ensure that in the majority of cases young people would be released into the care of their parents or guardians to await trial, and where this was not possible, they would be held in Places of Safety. Because the success of the legislation depended on the infrastructure of Places of Safety being available, careful planning, preparation and training were necessary. However, due to the fact that there was very little inter-sectoral co-operation and planning in this field at the time, such preparation did not take place. On 8 May 1995 the legislation was promulgated with immediate effect. There were at the time 829 children in South African prisons awaiting trial, and approximately the same number in police cells. These children all had to be brought to court within 24 or 48 hours, and either released into the care of their parents or guardians or transferred to Places of Safety.

As children arrived in large numbers at the doors of the Places of Safety, the existing crisis deepened sharply. Staff was unable and in some cases unwilling to care for these children, and concerns was raised for the safety of other children already in Places of Safety for care and protection reasons.

Because Places of Safety are primarily designed for the temporary care and protection of children referred through the Children's Court, they were not able to make appropriate provision for secure care programmes, and many children referred there by the magistrates courts absconded shortly after having been left at Places of Safety. The government responded to this crisis by setting up of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Young People at Risk (IMC).

The IMC had undertaken substantial empirical research pertaining to residential child and youth care in the form of a situational analysis of residential care facilities and an investigation into Places of Safety, Schools of Industries and Reform Schools requested by cabinet.

A situational analysis of state owned and run residential facilities were undertaken by the IMC in 1995. This situational analysis yielded the following information:

Whilst many of children who had committed a crime were awaiting trial in correctional facilities, some of these children were placed in Places of Safety together with children who were placed there through the Child Care Act.
There was no system in place that ensured that children were placed in facilities in the provinces where they lived. This resulted in further disintegration of families as in most cases parents did not have the means to visit their children. Reintegration and reunification processes were nonexistent.
Children in residential facilities were being cared for by staff that was mostly not qualified in child and youth care, resulting in the quality of care being compromised.
The ratio of staff to children was extremely poor. Professional staffs such as social workers, and psychologists were unevenly spread in residential facilities, with some facilities having no access to professional services.

A host of Human Rights Abuses were identified as well, some of these are:

Inequality - Disparities were found in the treatment of children and youth in residential facilities relating to budgetary allocation, standard of care, methods of discipline, extent of freedom, length of stay in a facility, contact with families and communities, access to appropriate education, developmental and treatment programmes, human resources. Most of these disparities relate to the racial divisions of the past.
Lack of respect for Privacy and Human Dignity - Serious intrusions into privacy and human dignity of children and youth were found in relation to sanitary facilities, strip searches, and lack of privacy relating to phone calls and correspondence.
Freedom and Security of person - Breaches in this regard related to widespread use of isolation cells, corporal punishment, and punishment/reward systems.
Assaults and abuse - A number of children in all categories of the residential facilities claimed to be victims of emotional, physical or sexual abuse. As well as assaults by members of staff, children are also often the victims of assault by other young people in the facilities, due to lack of adequate programming and supervision.
Race, language, culture and religion - Language is also a problem, with therapeutic work by social workers and psychologists having sometimes to be done through an interpreter. There is a lack of cultural sensitivity, and there is generally little awareness of the need for freedom of religion.

The evaluation of programmes offered to young people yielded that there was a dearth of appropriate developmental and therapeutic programmes in Places of Safety, Schools of Industry and Reform Schools. Very few facilities have individual treatment or development plans for children, and in many facilities children do not have access to a social worker or psychologist, with the roles of child and youth care staff being unduly limited.

The distance at which many children are placed away from home makes family preservation and reunification work very difficult. In addition, at some facilities there are no social workers, and at others the ratio of social workers to children renders reunification work impossible. Social Workers at the facilities also cited lack of communication with social workers in the communities who are or should be rendering services to the families.

Difficulties within the system - Group discussions and consultative meetings at national and provincial level indicated that in many of the provinces appropriate child-centred services to young people and families at risk are under-developed. The efforts of personnel attempting to offer an appropriate service are often negatively impacted upon in the following ways:
- The service system has been fragmented between and among Ministries, Departments and disciplines.
- The system has generally been based on a pathology-oriented perspective and has thus not successfully drawn on inherent strengths within children, families and communities
- The community plays little or no part in decision-making either before or after placement.

This background is an extract from a situational analysis completed in 1996, by the IMC. Secure Care facilities were not in existence then. It was this investigation and the crisis of children being kept in police cells and in prisons together with adults that precipitated the origins of this programme. The situational analysis described above was conducted on residential facilities for children in general. However the solutions to these problems were recommended in what is usually referred to as the Transformation of the Child and Youth Care System in South Africa. As secure care facility was a fairly new programme, it was used to pilot a number of these recommendation. The expectation was that by 2005, all child and youth care services would have been transformed according to the policy framework as well as the minimum norms and standards for practice.

The general conditions and standard of care in the facilities visited fall short of standards set by the United Nations Instruments, the South African Constitution the Interim Policy, and the norms and standards. The situational analysis that was completed in February 2009, which is described below, does not describe a transformed service even though there has been approximately 13 years of implementation.

This background thus gives a perspective of the areas where change was imperative and non negotiable. Whilst the Department of Social Development rose to the challenge to put corrective action into place, the following situational analysis can be used as a barometer to see how this process of change was managed. The gap between what was done and what still needs to be done is part of the rational to develop the blueprint together with an implementation framework.

The following is an exposition of the findings: The findings are presented according to the themes in the research methodology.

4.3 Problem statement

Secure care facilities are intended for children in conflict with the law and are meant to add value to the rehabilitation programmes that are geared to prevent them from being involved in further criminal activities. The IMC policy document (1996) provided guidelines on the mission and vision for the child and youth care centers. From the site visits conducted, we deduced that there was very little standardization in terms of service delivery, no national strategy was driving implementation, neither was there sufficient monitoring and evaluation being conducted on the status of these programmes by either of the two spheres of government that hold this concurrent function.

Furthermore, there was little evidence of programmes that contributed to the empowerment and improvement of social functioning of children waiting trial. Neither was there evidence of an integrated approach to the programmes that were being offered. Parents of children who are supposed to participate in programmes to improve relationships when they are discharged to rejoin their families and communities were nonexistent. Therapeutic programmes, which are the backbone of a secure care programme as they are based on cognitive restructuring, were generally lacking. Skills development programs were not available in some of the centers. This resulted in children being idle and sitting in the sun, and not kept constructively occupied.

The lack of formal or dysfunctional educational programs is a problem. The fact that this programme is the responsibility of the Department of Education created strained relationship between most centre managers and the educators/education department, as the centre managers found themselves impotent and unable to manage teachers who flaunted the law. Some facilities would have preferred not to have the education department's involvement in the centers but rather send the children to community schools.

From observation during the visits it was obvious that the draft policy for the transformation of the child and youth care system developed in 1996 by the IMC had not been implemented and as a result the transformation process was lacking and not visible.

The relationship that should exist between the spheres of government (national and provincial) appeared to be strained and provinces perceived the national office as not being supportive to the secure care programme. However, the critical relationship that should exist between the provincial office and the centre was minimal. The words of a centre manager describe this well. "We are the step children of the province – no one visits us, no one cares for us, only when they are looking for statistics then we get a call".

The management of the programme is the responsibility of the Centre Manager. In most cases there was no other management support to assist the manager with the operations. Insufficient allocations in terms of budgets compromised the care of children. Inadequate human resources were a source for concern in some facilities whilst in some facilities the number of staff outweighed the number of children.

It must be pointed out that the situation described above was not the same in the outsourced services managed by a private service provider. There seemed to be a vast improvement in terms of quality of care, capability of human resources to implement the programme and the management of the total programme as compared with state run. Evidence of the minimum norms and standards and the transformation policy in service delivery was notable.

4.3.1 Relationship with Provincial Office

The accountability and responsibility lines between the centre manager and the provincial structures were not the same in each province. The role of the provincial office is to advocate for budget and resources, interpret policy, provide guidance in terms of implementation, monitor and evaluate service delivery and mentor management to enable them to render an effective service. Some secure care facilities reported directly to the province whilst other provinces reported to the regional and district offices. However in most provinces the secure care facilities had no working relationship with the province. In some instances provincial office had never visited or made contact with the facility and had no idea of the functioning of the facility. Most of the provinces were not providing these services and where there was an attempt to provide the service, it was not consistent because it was not the priority of the provincial office. The only connection between the provincial offices and the secure care facilities was via the monthly statistics sent to the provincial offices by the facilities. It was clear that there needs to be a strategy/clear role definition put in place to ensure that the provincial offices support the secure care facilities and provide the supporting services as expected.

4.3.2 Current Utilization of Facilities

There was great concern around the utilization of the facilities. Most of the facilities were underutilized up to and over fifty percent. The other concern was that though the facilities were not fully utilized, the budget and other resources remained the same and though the number of children was less the service remained ineffective and the needs of children awaiting trial not adequately met.

In 1996 the government made an undertaking that no under-aged children will be left in correctional facilities or police cells for longer than 48 hours with the result that the Department of Social Development was tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that children awaiting trial were accommodated in facilities that would cater for their needs as children. Provinces upgraded current facilities and others built new ones in order to fulfill the mandate of providing facilities that cater for children awaiting trial.

In some provinces however it was reported that some children are still kept in police cells because SAPS personnel were not prepared to drive long distances to where secure care facilities were. It was also noted that some children are fetched approximately three days prior to their court appearance and kept in police cells to await the appearance. The distance of the facility from the nearest court or police station was a big issue in some of the provinces. In some facilities the facility was not used to its optimum because some of the rooms were in an inhabitable state due to lack of cooperation from the Department of Public Works and lack of funds for renovations. All these factors impact on the number of children in the facilities.

4.3.3 Location of Facilities

Some of the facilities are located on the outskirts of town and far from the courts and local amenities like hospitals and towns. A few are located less than five kilometres from the nearest town/township and one was located within a township. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages with the present location of the facilities. One of the advantages of having a facility within the community was the increase in the participation of the community in the facility. One disadvantage though was the management of contrabands that were easily filtered into the facility via openings and inappropriate fencing of the security fence as well as some of the community members bringing in unacceptable items to the facility. The disadvantage with the facilities that were far from the communities was, the stigma attached to the facility, the labelling of the children and the inaccessibility of the facility via public transport which impacted on the visits to the facility by parents/relatives.

The location of the facility within communities increases the chances of community participation, accessibility to resources, possible reduction of stigmatization and the acceptance of children in conflict with the law as well as increasing the chances of feedback from the communities in terms of service provision.

4.3.4 Management of the facilities

The structure of the management of the facilities differed from facility to facility. There was an obvious lack of a middle management tier in most of the facilities which impacted on the rendering of supervision to the lower levels of staff. There is no standardized organogram for the secure care facilities and as a result most facilities developed their own structures according to resources at their disposal. The lack of the middle management tier has serious implications for the provision of leadership, effective management and supervision. Some of the implications relate to lack of continued management in the event of the centre manager's absence.

The management of other professions, for example nurses and educators, presented challenges as these professionals were not supervised by the centre manager and this presents a problem with their accountability and general responsibility. They (especially the educators) act as if they are not part of the centre and in their independence, ineffective services are rendered.

4.3.5 Competencies of Management of a secure care programme

There are no guidelines in terms of the qualifications for management and as a result the qualifications of managers varied from a child care qualification to a degree in social work or general degree. All managers expressed concern on the lack of training and development opportunities as well as ongoing in-service training. There is a need for standard criteria for management qualification because at the moment the different facilities have managers with different qualifications. Managers must have an understanding of the nature of the business, appropriate qualifications in management and leadership skills. In some facilities there were management conflicts in terms of professionals being supervised by a manager with a grade 12 certificate and basic qualifications in child care. It will also be important for managers to receive ongoing in-service training.

There was no national guide in terms of qualifications of managers in secure care facilities. This was viewed as a serious oversight in terms of the nature of the service and the calibre of manager to run such a facility. The expectations are high in running a secure care facility and there are a number of challenges in managing this type of service and therefore a certain type of leadership is required for effectiveness.

There is a national delay in the finalization of professionalizing the child and youth care workers. There is no career pathing for the staff as well as inadequate financial resources for continuous training and developing the skills of workers. Many of the child and youth care workers are demoralised and have a major attitude which does not bode well for the care of the children.

Some facilities did not have social workers in their staff compliment for many years though there were social workers posts in the organogram. Where there were social workers, their roles were not very clear and there was dissonance between them and the child and youth care workers. This situation impacted on service delivery. With the lack of criteria on the qualification of staff in secure care facilities it is important that staff is selected on the basis of their skills and competencies.

4.3.6 Children and staff ratio

Most facilities were underutilised over a long period. The result was that, in some instances the staff ratio was 5:1 in favour of staff. However, the staff did not provide a different service with the small numbers but the status quo remained the same. What was striking was that regardless of the number of the children in the facilities the resources remained the same which showed that there was not effective monitoring and efficient utilization of resources.

4.3.7 Human Resource Management

Although there are national performance evaluation systems, most managers' performance was not evaluated over a long period. Managers of facilities did not have standardized procedures of managing and evaluating performance. This largely contributed to the ineffectiveness of the service. Supervision was grossly lacking on all levels. Where there were service transgressions, no corrective action was taken and in instances where action was taken there were unnecessary delays in the finalisation of the matters.

4.3.8 Infrastructure

The infrastructure has improved over the years in most of the facilities according to the reports that were received. However, the relationship between the provincial office and the facility plays an important role in advocating for improved financial resources for the upgrading of the facility. This is not happening as it should be. The newly built facilities were quite advanced in terms of the infrastructure whilst, sadly, those that were converted into secure care facility were lagging behind. In some instances there were no communication networks for years and the facilities were struggling to communicate with the outside world because they could not send e-mails and the cell phones they had could perform the bare minimum tasks.

There is a great concern regarding the lack of cooperation from the Department of Public Works as well as the speed in which they undertake projects within facilities especially as children in the facilities are usually very destructive. The result is that some facilities have broken windows, doors and ceilings, exposing children to injury as well as contributing to escapes from the facilities.

4.3.9 Security

All the facilities have security personnel, some of which are outsourced and some in the staff structure of the facility. It was clear during the visits that there is no uniform briefing for the security. Security was found to be lax in most facilities. The most concerning fact was the lack of training of security personnel in terms of the type of child admitted in the facility.

All security was involved in the admission process of the child. However, some of the methods they used for searching the children were gross violations of the rights of the children's privacy and this was seen in a very serious light. It was also apparent that there was a need for security personnel to be trained in basic child care work so as to understand the nature of the work they were involved in regardless of whether they were private or in the staff structure of the facility.

4.3.10 Programmes

Therapeutic programmes are provided by the different professionals such social workers, occupational therapists and psychologists. These programmes can be rendered to individuals and/or groups of children. These programmes mostly concentrate on cognitive restructuring, behaviour modification, self awareness and positive self concept. In some facilities however, social workers did not implement their basic social work skills and intervention to assist the child. Neither was group work used as a method of intervention. It is important that social workers in the facilities have clinical capability as this capability is needed in such a specialized service as in secure care programme. These programmes were offered differently in the different facilities and lacking in most of the facilities. Some of the reasons were that there were no professionals to fill the posts. Social work services as well as probation officers assessments were lacking in most of the facilities.

A few of the centers did not have other professional services including occupational therapists, psychologists and doctors. Developmental programmes include the development of hard and soft skills that would assist the children to adjust in their different environments. Some facilities had workshops to train the children on different skills including bricklaying, carpentry, computers, art, etc. Some facilities did not offer this to the children.

Care programmes are largely provided by child and youth care workers and these may include skills to respect the space and property of others, self care and care for immediate environment, homework supervision, rights and responsibilities towards chores and daily living responsibilities and respect for others. Different facilities offered different programmes and the effectiveness of these programmes depended on the dedication and calibre of staff in the facility. There are no guidelines for offering these programmes. Spiritual/religious programmes are usually provided by volunteers. There was no clear policy with regards to whether children are exposed to religions of their choice or they were all clubbed together for the convenience of child and youth care workers.

There seemed to be differing understanding of what was meant by cultural programmes. In some facilities this was defined by the type of menu they had or as open days to show case their African art work. There is a need to have the same understanding of cultural programmes. Recreational programmes are often used to keep the children occupied whilst developing their physical and mental capacities through play and recreation. As with other programmes, some facilities had no equipment for the children to play with. The only recreational equipment available in all the facilities were television sets. The viewing there-of differed from centre to centre. In some facilities the children were left idle, especially at night, as there was no provision for in-door games or board games. The shortage of equipment was attributed to lack of financial resources. The lack of imagination in some instances was a problem, because child and youth care workers could not use whatever they had for the children's recreation.

It is expected that all secure care programmes must render therapeutic and life skills orientated programmes to children in conflict with the law, regardless of the time they spend in the facility. It was disheartening to find that most facilities, regardless of the advent of the transformation of the child and youth care system, were not engaging the children in constructive programmes. Some facilities still only offered accommodation to children and no life skills or therapeutic programmes. There were a few facilities were professional therapeutic services were rendered as well as advanced life skills programmes. There was a distinctive difference in the behaviour of those children who were constructively engaged and those who were not involved in programmes. A programme of any nature is the most important life changing intervention. Children awaiting trial create the most opportune time for interventions to take place, as they are a captive audience. However, this paradigm is not evident in many of the facilities.

It is important that there is uniformity in the provision of services as these different programmes play an integral part in the rehabilitation process of the child awaiting trial.

The role of the probation officer in the secure care programme is not well understood, or there is total disregard for this role. The reasons for this may be many. The management of a child awaiting trail is both the responsibility of a resident social worker and the probation officer that admits the child. This understanding suggests that there should be strong relation between the two social workers, one who assists the child in the centre, and the other who is the link between family and the child. This was not evident at all in the facilities that were visited. In many of the facilities children were being accepted without the assessment reports and that makes one wonder on what basis the child was admitted in the first place.

A few of the facilities did not have other professional services, such as occupational therapists, psychologists and doctors. This does comprise quality of care.

4.3.11 Community participation

Community participation is important in normalizing the situation of children in secure care facilities as well as creating awareness on the role the communities can play in preventing children getting into criminal activities as well as offering them support when they eventually leave the facilities to be members of the community. In instances where the facilities were within communities there was a fair amount of community participation. However this was limited to church activities and playing soccer. There were no programmes designed to educate the communities about why the children were there and what roles they can play in prevention programmes. In situations where the facilities were situated far from communities, there was no community participation and there was also difficulty even for parents and relatives to access the facility due to transport problems and the distance to be travelled.

The problems outlined above are not dissimilar to those that were identified through the Transformation of the Child Care System process. Whilst a number of changes have been instituted, the need to continue this process in a systematic manner is paramount.

4.3.12 Lack of inter-sectoral collaboration

The child and youth care system straddles a number of sectors including welfare, education, police, health, the prosecuting authority, justice and public works. As children and families function as whole entities, their needs are not logically or best served through a fragmented approach.

To deliver an effective, integrated service to children and families, there must of necessity be a shared vision and strong inter-sectoral collaboration and support. Due to the blockages experienced within the system, it is clear that the vision for a transformed child and youth care system is not shared and that there is limited inter-sectoral collaboration.

Following is a brief breakdown of the blockages caused by the various departments:

Department of Police
When a child is arrested every effort must be made by the police, as soon as possible, to notify parents or guardians about the fact that the child has been arrested. Hereafter, the parents should be notified of the time, place and date at which the child will appear in court. The arresting officer should also consider the release of the child to the parents or guardians. A further responsibility of the police is to obtain confirmation of the age of the child when notifying parents of the arrest. Very often, parents are not notified of the arrest of the child and are then not available at court, resulting in the containment of children because they cannot be released into an appropriate person's care. Due to the fact that the parents are not traced and notified, confirmation of age cannot be obtained and "over-aged" youth are referred to secure care facilities.
Where there are spatial challenges faced by the Police, it has been the experience of the secure care facilities that children who need to appear in court remain in police cells for extended periods of time. This is an unacceptable practice as there are implications for the secure care facilities in the event that something untoward happens to the child. The children have been placed in the care of the secure care facility and are without a "guardian" during this practice. Furthermore a child may be exposed to circumstances that are not in the best interest of the child.
When a child (contained in a secure care facility) needs to be hospitalised or should attend a funeral within the community, a police official should transport and guard the child. Efforts to contact the investigating officer are often futile and children are transported and "guarded" by child care workers. This causes an additional burden on the centre, as less child care workers are then available within the centre for the care of children.
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development should assist the Department of Social Development by ensuring that probation officers have easy access to all children appearing in the courts, designating one court within a district to deal with all youth matters, and as far as is reasonably possible channelling of regional court cases involving children through one regional court. Adequate time should also be allowed for assessments to take place and if such assessments have not already been completed, notifying the probation officer if a child is due to appear in court and has not been assessed.
Probation officers, however, do not have easy access to children and are not informed that children are appearing in court for the first time. This leads to the fact that children are not assessed and are referred to secure care facility without an assessment report. Consequently, there is no probation officer appointed to monitor the child's case and act as link between the child, the court and the secure care facility.
At the first appearance in court, consideration must be given to the completed assessment form and the recommendation of the probation officer regarding release or suitable placement, including availability of places in the recommended facility. Often, children are referred to a specific secure care facility even if place is not available. This leads to overcrowding in facilities, whilst other facility are not utilised to their full capacity.
National Prosecuting Authority
After completion of the assessment, the probation officer must hand over the completed assessment form to the prosecutor. The prosecutor must familiarize him/herself with the contents of the completed assessment form, together with the docket and make a decision regarding whether or not to prosecute. If the matter is to be remanded for further investigation or for trial, the issue of placement will need to be considered. The probation officer will inform the prosecutor as to availability of places at the various facilities. If it appears likely that the child can be released into the care of the parent or guardian, but such persons are not present at the court, the matter should stand down, and the prosecutor must request the probation officer and investigating officer to make all reasonable efforts to ensure that the parents or guardians come to court. Due to limited capacity of both the police and the Department of Social Development, efforts cannot be made on the same day to trace parents. These children must then consequently be contained.
Department of Education
The Department of Education is responsible for the speedy designation to a reform school after a child has been sentenced in terms of section 290 of Criminal Procedure Act, no 51 of 1977 (until 2012 as per Children's Act 35 of 2008). Children often wait for long periods before a school is designated. This results in the fact that children are left in limbo as they do not proceed to their next placement option. Some of these children may even abscond from the secure care facility.
Department of Health
Where the age of a child is uncertain, and there is reason to believe that he or she may be over the age of 18 years, the magistrate may make an estimation of the age in terms of section 337 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 51 of 1977 and Child Justice Act, 75 of 2008. Information obtained by the probation officer during the assessment process will assist the court in this regard. The Child Justice Act makes a provision for the district surgeon or district medical officer to determine age, but this may be done if it is considered that it will be of value to the court in making a determination of age. Due to the unavailability of district surgeons or district medical officers, children cannot be referred for age assessment.
Some children display psychological problems after their admission to a secure care facility and should be referred for observation or treatment in a psychological ward or hospital. Challenges are often experienced in referring children for the said service. These children must then remain in the secure care centre that is not geared to handle this behaviour. These children are also at risk of being abused or influenced by the other children in the centre.
Department of Public works
The maintenance of secure care facilities are to be done by the Department of Public Works. Maintenance is not done as a matter of urgency and leads to secure care facilities being totally vandalised and even uninhabitable.

5 The proposed future

5.1 Mandate of the National Department

Welfare is a concurrent function of both national and provincial departments. However there is a clear distinction between the two spheres in terms of the functions that they perform.

The national department is responsible to provide the framework for the identification, development and evaluation of programmes. The national department enables the provincial departments to deliver on their mandates by developing legislation that gives justification to programmes, policies that inform programme delivery, norms and standards for practice and inform the monitoring and evaluation for impact and for the improvement of services.

In order to provide the concurrent functions, there must be institutional arrangements in place at both national and provincial level that are responsible for specific programmes. The national Department under the Branch Welfare Services has a Chief Directorate responsible for Families and Social Crime Prevention, Substance Abuse and Victim Empowerment.

The mandate of the Chief Directorate is to "Develop, monitor and facilitate the implementation of policies, legislation and programmes to protect empower and support children, youth offenders and victims in the criminal justice system". Within this Chief Directorate is a Directorate: Social Crime Prevention whose objective is to strengthen probation services, prevent social crime and integrate Child Justice Services.

The diagram in page 79 depicts the organogram of the Chief Directorate – Families, Social Crime Prevention, Substance Abuse and Victim Empowerment.

5.2 Vision

A secure care programme providing developmental and holistic intervention in an enabling, caring, safe and secure environment to ensure comprehensive and integrated services to children in conflict with the law.

5.3 Mission

A secure care programme that provides an enabling, caring, safe and secure environment, and services which are integrated, holistic and developmental in nature for children in conflict with the law by all stakeholders.

5.4 Guiding principles and values

Accountability: Everyone who intervenes with children/young people and their families should be held accountable for the delivery of an appropriate and quality service.
African Renaissance: As South Africans and Africans, all services to children/young people and their families should reflect an understanding of the African context in which they are based and should consciously support the African Renaissance.
Age appropriate: Every child should be addressed in a manner appropriate to his or her age and intellectual development and should be spoken to and be allowed to speak in his or her language of choice, through an interpreter, if necessary.
Appropriateness: All services to children/young people and their families should be the most appropriate for the individual, the family and the community.
Assessment: Assessment is based on a developmental framework with the major focus on strengths and includes information gathered from the child's daily living environment, community environment and family environment.
Best interest of the child (section 7 of Children's Act, 38 of 2005)
Care Plan: Each child has a Care Plan which has been developed on the basis of a developmental assessment and which aims to provide life-long relationships within their family or appropriate alternative, and re-integration in the community.
Child-centred: Positive developmental experiences support and capacity building should be ensured through regular developmental assessment and programmes which strengthen the child's/young person's development over time.
Community-Centred: Services should be contextualised within the community environment, and support and capacity building to communities should be provided through regular developmental assessment and programmes which strengthen the community's development over time.
Confidentiality: Principle according to which particulars which has been obtained from children and/or families within the professional relationship will not be disclosed without their permission.
Continuity of Care and Development: The changing social, emotional, physical, cognitive and cultural needs of the child/young person and their family should be recognised and addressed throughout the intervention process. Links with continuing support networks and resources, when necessary, should be encouraged after disengagement from the system.
Continuum of Care and Development: Children/young people at risk (and their families) should have access to a range of differentiated and integrated services on a continuum of care and development, ensuring access to the least restrictive, least intrusive and most empowering environment and/or programme/s appropriate to their individual developmental and therapeutic needs.
Diversity: Every child should be treated in a manner which takes into account his or her cultural values and beliefs.
Effectiveness and Efficiency: Services to children/young people and their families should be delivered in the most effective and efficient way possible.
Empowerment: The resourcefulness of each child/young person and their family should be promoted by providing opportunities to use and build their own capacity and support networks and to act on their own choices and sense of responsibility.
Equality: Children must have equal access to available services and every effort should be made to ensure that children receive similar treatment.
Family-Centred: Services should be contextualised within the family, the extended family and the community, and support and capacity building to families should be provided through regular developmental assessment and programmes which strengthen the family's development over time.
Family Preservation: All services should prioritise the goal to have children/young people remain within the family and/or community context wherever possible. When a child/young person is placed in alternative care, services should aim to retain and support communication and relationships between the person and their family (unless proven not to be in their best interests), and maximise the time which the person spends in the care of his/her family.
Integration: Services to children/young people and their families should be holistic, inter-sectoral and delivered by an appropriate multi-disciplinary team wherever possible.
Non-discriminatory: No young person should be refused admission to a centre on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, or cultural heritage and provision for an appropriate staff team who can understand and communicate with each young person should be made.
Normalisation: Children/Young people and their family should be exposed to normative challenges, activities and opportunities, which promote participation and development.
Participation: Children/young people and their families should be actively involved in all the stages of the intervention process.
Permanency Planning: Every child/young person within the Continuum of Care and Development should be provided with the opportunity to build and maintain lifetime relationships within a family and/or community context within the shortest time possible.
Restorative Justice: The approach to children/young people in trouble with the law should focus on restoring societal harmony and putting wrongs right rather than punishment. The child/young person should be held accountable for his or her actions and where possible make amends to the victim.
Rights-based: The rights of children/young people as established in the South African Constitution and the various international conventions ratified by South Africa, shall be protected.
Strengths-based: Services on all levels of intervention should, as a matter of priority, identify and build on strengths of the child and family.
Transitory programme: Refers to residential care for children who are in trouble with the law and who are waiting for the finalisation of statutory process. This includes young people awaiting trial, awaiting sentence, awaiting transfer, awaiting designation, awaiting placement on the Continuum of Care and awaiting placement with family or friends.

5.5 Definition of concepts

5.5.1 Child and Youth Care

In terms of the Children's Act 38, 2005 a child and youth care centre is a facility for the provision of residential care to more than six children outside the child's family environment. These centres must offer a therapeutic programme and it includes programmes designed for:

The reception, care and development of children other than in their family environment;
The reception, care and development of children on a shared basis with the parent or other person having parental responsibilities;
The reception and temporary safe care of children pending their placement;
Early childhood development;
The reception and temporary safe care of children to protect them from abuse and neglect;
The reception and temporary safe care of trafficked or commercially sexually exploited children;
The reception and temporary safe care of children for the purpose of observing and assessing those children, providing counselling and other treatment to them, or assisting them to reintegrate with their families and the community;
The reception, development and secure care of children awaiting trial, designation, or sentence and sentenced;
The reception, development and secure care of children with behavioural, psychological and emotional difficulties;
The reception, development and secure care of children in terms of an order under the Criminal Procedure Act

The Minister and the MEC's for social development must provide for the establishment of Child and Youth Care Centres which is properly resourced, co-ordinated and managed. In addition, the Minister must determine national norms and standards for these centres which must relate to:

A residential care programme;
Therapeutic programmes;
Developmental programmes;
Permanency plans for children;
Individual development plans;
Temporary safe care;
Protection from abuse and neglect;
Assessment of children;
Family reunification and reintegration;
Aftercare;
Access to and provision of adequate health care;
Access to schooling, education and early childhood development;
Security measures; and
Measures for the separation of children in secure care programmes from children in other programmes.

5.5.2 Secure Care

Secure care forms one of the programmes included under the broad term of a child and youth care centre and as such must comply with all the prescriptions as outlined for Child and Youth Care Centres in the Children's Act. The Act stipulates that a secure care centre must be established for:

The reception, development and secure care of children awaiting trial or sentence;
The reception, development and secure care of children with behavioural, psychological and emotional difficulties;
The reception, development and secure care of children in terms of an order-
- under the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act no. 51 0f 1977);
- In terms of section 156(1)(i) placing the child in a child and youth care centre which provides a secure care programme; or
- In terms of section 171 transferring a child in alternative care.
The reception, development and secure care of children awaiting designation of a reform school or school of industry.

An existing state operated secure care facility established in terms of the Child Care Act must be regarded as having been established in terms of the Children's Act as a child and youth care centre providing residential care. Schools of industry and reform schools become the responsibility of the Department of Social Development within two years of the commencement of the Children's Amendment Act. All existing government secure care facilities, schools of industry and reform schools must be registered as child and youth care centres within two years of the commencement of the Children's Act.

The concept "SECURE CARE" was coined during the transformation process of the Child and youth care system. This term was used to distinguish those children who because of coming into conflict with the law would need a programme that would ensure that they take responsibility for their wrong doing, that recidivism is prevented, as well as contain them, restrict their movements and ensure the safety of the community. The intention was to ensure that there is a "place" where these children are contained, as well as an "intervention" during their containment. Therefore with time, Secure care as a concept has been used interchangeable – to mean a facility and a programme. For the purpose of the blueprint it is necessary to differentiate the "place" from the programme as a number of the current challenges are paradigmatic in nature as well as differentiate between other residential programmes within the child and youth care system.

Secure Care as a programme

The programme of secure care is based on the understanding that some children in conflict with the law may need to be physically, emotionally and/or behaviourally contained. Just as the definition denotes there must be interventions that will assist the child to become aware of his behaviour, take responsibility for it and learn new behaviours that will help him/her to stay on the right side of the law. In addition, new life skills should be learned that would ensure that there is better utilization of time and choice of friends and peers.

The decision to refer a child to secure care should be based on (a) the fact that the child cannot be diverted or cannot await trial at home, and (b) the fact that he or she has been appropriately assessed to be a threat to society and/or him/herself and/or other children. Only children who have turned 14 years old and have not yet reached 18 years old (at the time of arrest) should be detained in Secure Care.

Containment of children in secure care should be effective whilst maintaining respect for the child's well-being and dignity. Interventions and physical structures should be of such a nature that children or staff cannot be physically, socially or emotionally hurt.

Secure care as a "place"

All secure care facilities (government and non-government) should be established and maintained according to national regulations, minimum standards, and practice guidelines, which are based on international instruments and internationally accepted child and youth care practice.

Secure care facilities should provide differentiated programmes or units according to ages and the degree of danger which the young person may pose to peers, staff and society in general. For example, a facility may have a high security unit and a minimum-security unit, each offering a range of programmes. Choice of placement should be based on an assessment and not on arbitrary decisions related to the crime, or a reward/punishment system. Where a province has sufficient secure care facilities to choose from, each facility could provide a different programme.

Children who have been appropriately assessed to require secure care should not be accommodated in facilities or units which accommodate children in need of care and protection. Children in need of care and protection should be accommodated in a safety unit or facility. This differentiation accommodates the different programmes, staffing, training and security requirements. It is possible that both groups of children could be housed at one facility provided the staffing and buildings provide for this in line with the 'differentiated programmes' approach set out above.

Secure care facilities require well-trained staff that has been specially selected for their positive attitudes and willingness to work with very troubled young people. The majority of child and youth care staff should hold at least a post-matric qualification in child and youth care work and where possible a degree or diploma.

The secure care programme should also be accessible to children at risk as an intensive short term programme of intervention based on a developmental assessment by a multi-disciplinary team. This means that children can access the secure care programme, where appropriate and where applicable, as day programme, week programme, and short term programme as to meet their developmental and therapeutic needs.

5.5.3 ISDM Levels of Service Delivery

The integrated model proposed is a multi-pronged approach aimed at addressing the social welfare and development needs of target groups in a holistic and integrated manner. This approach provides a basis upon which systems can be put in place to ensure that vulnerable people are assisted to access immediate short and long-term material support, including social security when necessary.

The developmental approach is therefore able to promote the meeting of emergency needs of vulnerable households, individuals and communities while assessing the cause and effect of their vulnerability, recognising their strengths, and developing appropriate strategies for sustainable socio-economic development.

In order to achieve the desired outcome, namely an improvement in social functioning, services are rendered at different levels. These levels are on a continuum, so while they may seem to follow a distinct hierarchy, a client may enter the system at any of the levels, and the levels may overlap in practice. The service provider and client must together determine the client's current social functioning and develop an intervention strategy that will enable the client to reach the optimum level of social functioning and be ready for reintegration into society.

The levels of intervention are as follows:

Prevention
This is the most important aspect of social service delivery. Services delivered at this level are aimed at strengthening and building the capacity and self-reliance of the client. At this level the client is functioning at an adequate level but there is a possibility of at-risk behaviour at a later stage.
Early intervention (non-statutory)
Services delivered at this level make use of developmental and therapeutic programmes to ensure that those who have been identified as being at risk are assisted before they require statutory services, more intensive intervention or placement in alternative care.
Statutory intervention/residential/alternative care
At this level an individual has either become involved in some form of court case or is no longer able to function adequately in the community, and services are aimed at supporting and strengthening the individual involved. At this level a client may have to be removed from his/her normal place of abode, either by court order or on the recommendation of a service provider, to alternative care (e.g. foster care), or placed in a residential facility.
Reintegration and Aftercare
The previous intervention is aimed at providing alternative care which should wherever possible be a temporary measure, followed by reconstruction/aftercare services to enable the client to return to the family or community as quickly as possible. Services delivered at this level are aimed at reintegration and support services to enhance self-reliance and optimal social functioning.

In terms of the secure care programme, the focus of services is on levels 3 and 4.

At level 3, the child has been removed from his/her normal place of abode by court order and placed in a secure care. This level is applicable to services rendered to children awaiting trial and children referred to a diversion programme with a residential element. This level of service delivery is aimed at providing care which should wherever possible be a temporary measure, followed by reconstruction/aftercare service to enable the child to return to the family or community as quickly as possible. Services delivered at level 4 are aimed at reintegration and support services to enhance self-reliance and optimal social functioning. This level is applicable to services rendered to children sentenced to Child Care facilities.

The model espouses holistic and integrated delivery of services to the target group. Children awaiting trial must therefore be seen in the context of their families and the communities that they come from. Children will ultimately be reunified or reintegrated into the family and the community, therefore those significant others must be drawn into the management programme of the child concerned. The recidivism rate is extremely high as most children are not supported after release from the programme.

This programme also lends itself to offering interventions on levels 1 and 2. These interventions should be made available to all families of children who are awaiting trial. This could be made a condition of the probation officers report and could form part of the order for a parental or permanency plan as outlined in the Children's Act.

5.5.4 Developmental Assessment

Developmental assessment is firstly a methodology of assessment that moves away from the pathology based model to strengths based, developmental approach with the focus on the developmental and therapeutic needs of the child as well as his/her strengths. It is secondly, the underpinning philosophy for all who engage and work with children in the child and youth care system as to understand the child in his/her current context.

The goal of developmental assessment is to determine the least restrictive, most empowering environment and programme suitable to the child and/or family development needs at any given moment, and/or during the next steps of development, and/or in the long term.

For children awaiting trial in a child and youth care centre, assessment has the following objectives:

To understand the child, as well as the immediate and medium term developmental issues.
To take appropriate actions and/or provide and facilitate appropriate programme resources.
To make and effective recommendation and/or decision with regard to the least restrictive, most empowering option for the child in terms of sentence, diversion, placement and programme resource.
To establish a Care Plan, if the child is sentenced and/or placed in care.

Assessment of children sentenced to a child and youth care centre, focuses on the child in terms of their daily and long term development. Assessment has the following objectives:

To understand the child, as well as the immediate and medium term developmental issues and to take appropriate actions and/or provide and facilitate appropriate programme resources based on an IDP.
To effectively implement and regularly evaluate the Care Plan and IDP's with a view to achieving reunification and/or reintegration into the community in the shortest time possible.
To make regular recommendations and/or decisions with regard to the least restrictive, most empowering option for the child in terms of transfer and programme resource.

Child friendly

Child friendly means that the rights of children are upheld in all spheres of service delivery. In the context of a residential service, the rights are interpreted to mean, but not limited to, the following:

Every child has the right-

To a name and a nationality from birth – Children must be recognised by their names on their birth certificates and should be referred by this name and not by surnames and/or numbers.
To family care or parental care, or to appropriate alternative care when removed from the family environment – Whilst secure care is a form of alternative care, children must be treated in a humane manner and receive the same level of care as would any "normal" child.
To basic nutrition, shelter, basic health care services, education and social services – Children in a secure care programme must receive the same level of care services as would any "normal" child. In addition, the secure care programme must offer, at a minimum, medical, educational, developmental and therapeutic programmes on site.
To be protected from maltreatment, neglect, abuse or degradation – Every child has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected. The staff at the secure care programme is custodians that must protect children from further abuse, neglect, maltreatment and degradation. Any person found guilty of violating this right must be managed by the appropriate disciplinary processes.
Not to be required or permitted to perform work or provide services that are inappropriate for a person of that child's age or place at risk the child's well-being, education, physical or mental health or spiritual, moral or social development – Chores outlined in the Child Labour Action Plan are permissible.
Not to be detained excepts as a measure of last resort and has the right to be kept separately from detained persons over the age of 18 years and treated in a manner and kept in conditions that take account of the child's age – Children in a secure care programme, are contained as a matter of last resort and should be exposed to appropriate child care, safety and guidance whilst being contained. The least restrictive behaviour management methods must be applied.
To have a legal practitioner assigned to the child by the state and at state expense – The secure care programme has the responsibility to ensure that every child has access to the services of a legal practitioner.
A child's best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child.

In addition to the rights, the principles that underpin the care and protection of children must be upheld.

5.6 Secure care model with options for South Africa

The literature review conducted for this exercise did not yield a distinctive model for children awaiting trial, both on an inter-national and national level. Inter-nationally, both the terms and the processes used across systems are not consistent, making appropriate comparisons difficult. In some countries, secure care is referred to as locked facilities for youth who were at risk of harming themselves and others, rather than to custodial care for young offenders. Various terms are used to refer to secure care such as youth justice residences, juvenile justice residences, youth custody centres, youth detention facilities, youth rehabilitation centre, and youth detention centres. It is clear that the prevailing philosophy, in a particular country, regarding crime informs the construction of these facilities. Inter-nationally, the custodial care of children awaiting trial is equated to South African correctional facilities.

Nationally, the child and youth care system transformation programme was one of the first reform programmes initiated in 1995. Considerable effort and resources were utilised to develop an inter-sectoral Policy, 2000 that would guide practice in all residential facilities, as well as for children placed in alternative care. This policy was strengthened with the development of minimum norms and standards. The implementation of this policy together with the minimum norms and standards was expected to improve and standardise quality care services to the children in residential facilities and to those in alternative care. Secure care facilities were included in the Child and Youth Care System, and therefore were targeted as one of the programmes that had to transform according to this policy and implement minimum norms and standards for quality care.

In the development of this blueprint we originally defined a number of models, but in retrospect having a number of models within a blueprint defeats the objective of a blueprint. Therefore only one model exists for the secure care programme in South Africa. This model can be expanded with the addition of two options, i.e. services to sentenced children and diversion.

5.6.1 Secure care model

Following is a description of the model for the secure care programme in South Africa. The model comprises of a core and option. The application of the core model is static in its entirety and the options that are recommended must be informed by the need of the province. This model has its basis in the transformation of the CYCS as we believe there are a number of core elements that are still applicable today as they were in 2000.

The approach to the development of the model is drawn from a number of practices of which legislative reform, organisational development, human resource management, transformation practices, social work programmes and child and youth care services are but a few that undergird this model. The core comprises of the following components:

Legislative framework
Inter-sectoral collaboration
Service Development
Organisational development
Resources
Organisational enablers
Services to beneficiaries
Ethos of services
Transversal areas

Each of these components will be discussed in detail to inform conceptualisation and to guide practice.

1. Legislative framework

In 1994 the Government of National Unity came into power, and one of its first actions was to draft legislation to prevent the holding of awaiting trial children in prisons and police cells. The Correctional Services Amendment Act, No 17 of 1994, amended section 29 of the Correctional Services Act so that children under 14 awaiting trial could never be held for longer than 24 hours, and those over 14 (but under 18) charged with serious offences (listed in a schedule to the Act) could only be held for 48 hours. The aim of the legislation was to ensure that in the majority of cases young people would be released into the care of their parents or guardians to await trial, and where this was not possible, they would be held in Places of Safety. Because the success of the legislation depended on the infrastructure of Places of Safety being available, careful planning, preparation and training were necessary. However, due to the fact that there was very little inter-sectoral co-operation and planning in this field at the time, such preparation did not take place. On 8 May 1995 the legislation was promulgated with immediate effect. There were at the time 829 children in South African prisons awaiting trial, and approximately the same number in police cells. These children all had to be brought to court within 24 or 48 hours, and either released into the care of their parents or guardians or transferred to Places of Safety.

Because Places of Safety are primarily designed for the temporary care and protection of children referred through the Children's Court, they were not able to make appropriate provision for secure care programmes, and many children referred there by the magistrates courts absconded shortly after having been left at Places of Safety. In order for children awaiting trial to be comprehensively and successfully serviced it was critical for Government to review, align and develop practices and legislate in some cases. These were informed by both inter-national and national legislation, protocols and agreements.

All services to children must be rights-based and as South Africa is a signatory and therefore reports on these obligations, it is critical for these to form part of the legislative framework to inform practice. The following are the most appropriate for children awaiting trial:

We are aware that there are others that are not mentioned below, but they have been taken into cognisance in the development of this blueprint where applicable.

1.1 International obligations

In recognizing the fundamental importance of the need to ensure that children globally are entitled to care, assistance and protection, South Africa has ratified and signed various international agreements, protocols, declarations and conventions.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

This Declaration aims to establish that a child by reason of his physical and mental immaturity needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth. These rights are also applicable to children awaiting trial.

United Nations Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency

The Riyadh Guidelines set out the roles of Government with regards to the following sections:

General prevention
Socialisation processes - Within Families, Education, Community, Mass media
Social policy
Legislation and juvenile justice administration
Research, policy development and co-ordination

United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice

The Standard Minimum Rules provide a set of basic principles to promote the use of non-custodial measures, as well as minimum safeguards for persons subject to alternatives to imprisonment. The Rules are intended to promote greater community involvement in the management of criminal justice, specifically in the treatment of offenders, as well as to promote among offenders a sense of responsibility towards society.

When implementing the Rules, the State shall endeavour to ensure a proper balance between the rights of individual offenders, the rights of victims, and the concern of society for public safety and crime prevention.

The State shall develop non-custodial measures within their legal systems to provide other options, thus reducing the use of imprisonment, and to rationalize criminal justice policies, taking into account the observance of human rights, the requirements of social justice and the rehabilitation needs of the offender.

United Nations Rules for Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (JDL Rules)

The JDL Rules aims to establish minimum standards accepted by the United Nations for the protection of juveniles deprived of their liberty. The standards are set in sections, i.e.:

Records
Admission, registration, movement and transfer
Classification and placement
Physical environment and accommodation
Education, vocational training and work
Recreation
Medical care
Notification of illness, injury and death
Limitations of physical restraint and the use of force
Disciplinary procedures
Inspection and complaints
Return to community
Personnel

1.2 National Legislation

The Constitution of South Africa Act 108 of 1996

The Constitution clearly states in section 28(1) that every child has the right to not be detained except as a measure of last resort, kept separately from detained persons over the age of 18 years, and treated in a manner and kept in conditions that take account of the child's age.

The Children's Act No 38 of 2005 as amended and the draft regulations

It should be noted that the Act speaks to secure care facilities for youth only to a limited extent, such facilities being included under the rubric of child and youth care centres.

This Act defines Child and Youth Care Centres as a facility for the provision of residential care to more than six children outside the child's family environment. Centres must offer a therapeutic programme for the residential care of children, which includes programmes for the reception, development and secure care of children awaiting trial or sentenced. School of Industries and Reform Schools are also considered to be forms of Child and Youth Care Centres.

The regulations relating to the Children's Act list general norms and standards pertaining to child and youth care centres. No specific mention is made of the secure care programme.

Criminal Procedures Act No 51 of 1977

This Act describes the judicial procedures to be followed regarding criminal incidents. Very little mention is made regarding young offenders. In Section 71, it is stated that 'a Juvenile [a person under 18] may be placed in place of safety or under supervision in lieu of release on bail or detention in custody'. In Section 74 it is mentioned that a parent or guardian of an accused under eighteen years may attend proceedings.

The Act therefore does not provide guidance regarding secure care facilities.

Child Justice Act No 75 of 2008

The Justice Act is inspired by restorative justice goals and aims to divert young people in conflict with the law from formal criminal proceedings. The focus is also on the rehabilitation and reintegration of children who have come into conflict with the law.

The Act notes that when considering placement, police officers must consider the least restrictive setting. In deciding on placement in a secure centre, the child's age and maturity, the seriousness of the offence and the degree to which a centre can reasonably ensure appropriate security as well as the risk that the child poses to him/herself and/or others must be considered. The child must also be assessed by a probation officer prior to a preliminary enquiry. As part of such an assessment, diversionary options must be considered.

Children who have come into conflict with the law would thus be referred to a secure care centre either to await trial or to serve their sentence, assuming that diversionary options as well as sentencing to a correctional facility have been precluded. A sentence to a secure centre may not be any longer than 5 years or the child's 21st birthday, whichever occurs first. At the conclusion of the sentence, the head of the secure centre is required to submit a report to the court as to the extent to which sentencing objectives were met.

Probation Services Act as amended (No. 116 of 1991)

According to the Probation Services Act, 1991 (Act 116 of 1991), probation officers have the task of screening, selecting and assessing persons awaiting trial. Probation officers are also required to prepare and present pre-sentence reports and undertake the supervision of sentenced offenders. In addition, probation officers and social workers are supposed to meet the needs of victims of crime.

The Act was amended so as to insert certain definitions and amend others, to make further provision for programmes aimed at the prevention and combating of crime, to extend the powers and duties of probation officers, to provide for the mandatory assessment of arrested children and to provide for the establishment of reception, assessment and referral services and centres.

Correctional Services Act

The Correctional Services Amendment Act no 17 of 1994 amended section 29 of the Correctional Services Act so that children under 14 awaiting trial could never be held for longer than 24 hours, and those over 14 (but under 18) charged with serious offences (listed in a schedule to the Act) could only be held for 48 hours. The aim of the legislation was to ensure that in the majority of cases young people would be released into the care of their parents or guardians to await trial, and where this was not possible, they would be held in Places of Safety.

1.3 National Policy Directives

White Paper for Social Welfare

The White Paper deals with key substantive issues in the restructuring of social welfare services, programmes and social security.

The following principles and guidelines pertain to youth justice:

The best interests of children and juveniles must be paramount in all actions.
Children and juveniles are always in some way connected to their family or support network, community or culture. These ties will be strengthened, and the capacity of such families and communities to provide support and care will be promoted.
Every opportunity should be taken to ensure that children and juveniles coming into conflict with the law have access to all available services to avoid recidivism. This is vital and in the long run will lower the overall crime rate.
Diversion from the legal system should be the preferred way of dealing with child offenders, and effective programmes should be developed.

The White Paper undertook to:

Prevention targeted at children and juveniles.
Develop an integrative programme of social upliftment that will be introduced in vulnerable communities.
In the provision of statutory services, the communication, co-ordination and co-operation between all role players will be promoted at a national, provincial, regional and local level, including that between the Departments of Welfare, Justice and Correctional Services, the South African Police Services (SAPS), NGOs, CBOs, community members and parents.
In line with the Beijing Rules and the Probation Services Act, 1991 (Act 116 of 1991), a dynamic child and juvenile offender prevention and care policy will be developed. The primary intention of this policy will be to keep child and juvenile offenders out of the criminal justice system for as long as possible.
A management protocol, and mechanisms involving a multidisciplinary team, parents, volunteers and community members, will be developed to deal with children in the pre-trial phase, for example review panels operating on a 24-hour basis, the National Child Line, and community-based supervision programmes.
A uniform strategy and procedures for the assessment of the needs of child and youth offenders will be developed and the most appropriate treatment options considered. The least restrictive and most empowering management option will be chosen. Children will be kept in custody only if it is absolutely necessary for the protection of society.
Child and youth offenders and their families will receive counselling and should have access to legal aid if necessary. This will be at the discretion of the courts and should be means-tested. Detained children and juveniles will at all times and under all circumstances be separated from adults.
A central register of children and juveniles awaiting trial and/or sentenced children and juveniles will be kept by provincial welfare departments in co-operation with the Department of Safety and Security. Children and juveniles kept in secure and open facilities (including schools of industry and reform schools) will be the responsibility of specially trained personnel. Special support programmes presented within the therapeutic community model will be available.
Programmes for offenders will be monitored, evaluated and adapted. Programmes of this nature will be piloted on a small, localised scale before being implemented nationally.
Legislation and proper management protocols will be developed as a matter of urgency between the Departments of Justice and Welfare and other stakeholders.
Where possible, children and juveniles will be diverted from the criminal justice system, in keeping with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules).
Working arrangements regarding the development and rendering of diversionary services will be entered into with welfare and other organisations.
The Department of Welfare will support the tabling of enabling legislation in order to make diversion an officially authorised option in all magisterial districts.
Children and juveniles will only be held in custody as a last resort. Wherever possible they should be released into the care of their parents or guardians to await trial in their own homes. Support will be given to families. This will require interdepartmental co-operation.
An adequate number of trained staff for existing places of safety and the development of other community-based placements will continue to be a priority. Secure places of safety are needed. There will be better linkages between places of safety, schools of industry and reform schools and more collaboration with the Department of Education in the management of these institutions.
The possibility of smaller places of safety for children and youth, with the emphasis on a family-type of environment and individual attention, will also be explored. Temporary foster placements for child offenders are another option which will also be explored with the participation of communities.
There should be greater involvement of communities in the supervision of sentenced children and juveniles through the development of special programmes for this purpose.

The Integrated Service Delivery Model

This document, distributed by the Department of Social Development in 2005/6, aims to operationalise the White Paper on Developmental Social Welfare and attempts to reassert the developmental values and principles for service delivery.

With regard to secure care, the ISDM does note that a significant problem has been the large numbers of children who have to await trial in prison because of inadequate numbers of probation workers and lack of infrastructure such as places of safety and secure care facilities in communities; the poorly developed protection services; the loss of skilled personnel due to poor salaries and working conditions, and funding challenges. The lack of resources and infrastructure must be considered when developing norms and standards, as the latter must be workable in a situation where resources are tight.

The document identifies various levels of intervention, these being prevention, early intervention (non-statutory), statutory intervention/residential/alternative care, and reconstruction and aftercare. In this categorisation, residential care describes the placement of a client in a residential facility, this encompassing secure care. In a further classification, services are described as either promotion, prevention, protection, rehabilitation, continuing care and mental health and addiction services. Residential facilities are considered as part of rehabilitation or continuing care services. Further, children and youth are named as primary target groups alongside families, women and older people.

The IMC took the radical step of recommending that human and financial resources be prioritised, at least in the short term, towards prevention and early intervention services and programmes with the intent of keeping as many children as possible out of care. Indeed, they recommend that residential care be focussed on 'those children who are orphaned and/or abandoned and who cannot be absorbed into communities, those who have serious emotional and/or behavioural problems and cannot be best served within their families or in foster care, and those who are seriously disabled and who cannot be best served in their families and foster care'. Residential care facilities are thus urged to not only provide care to their residents, but to ensure that there is a prevention and early intervention component to their service delivery.

Secure care and youth correctional services are identified as being the most restrictive in terms of a continuum of alternative care for children and youth. The IMC identified secure care as being extremely specialised and suggested that differentiated programmes (based on age and the 'degree of danger the young person poses to peers, staff and society in general) were required including short term assessment and containment programmes, therapeutic programming as a sentencing option, and work therapy programmes. The IMC also stated that young people in conflict with the law should 'wherever possible be kept in their families and communities'. Only where the young person 'cannot be diverted or cannot await trial at home' and has been 'appropriately assessed' should s/he be detained in secure care. The IMC does specify that this should be for 14 to 18 year olds. Further, 'international instruments and internationally accepted child and youth care practice' should guide the norms and standards in such facilities.

The IMC further make references to a restorative justice approach in the place of punishment. It is important to note that the IMC understands youth justice as straddling both welfare and justice. However, the 'treatment' component of welfare and the 'punishment' component of justice are to be replaced with 'restorative justice concepts which centre on conflict resolution and the involvement of young people, families and communities in decision-making processes'. The intention thus is to develop in youth a capacity to 'respect themselves and to play a meaningful role in society'. A restorative justice programme would ensure that most youth coming into conflict with the law are dealt with in the community and not placed in secure centres or youth correctional facilities. Community-based sentencing might, for example, engage youth in diversion programmes. 'Imprisonment of people under 18 should be used as a measure of last resort'. The IMC recommends that 'young people awaiting trial should only be held in secure care when a multidisciplinary assessment finds that this is the most appropriate option. The cases of young people in custody should be given absolute priority within the criminal justice system'.

The document asserts that in the case of secure care facilities, funding is expected to come entirely from the state.

The IMC suggests that an integrated inter-sectoral system of information that tracks the children within the system be established for child and youth care centres. This is a requirement that extends beyond secure care facilities but would impact them in terms of the extent and frequency of information that would need to be collected.

Interim Protocol for the Management of Children awaiting Trial (2002)

This document is collaboration between four Departments, namely the Department of Justice and constitutional Development, the Department of Social Development, the Department of Safety and Security and the Department of Correctional Services. The purpose of the document is to clearly identify the roles and responsibilities of each department in the management of children awaiting trial from the point of arrest to sentence.

Interim Policy Recommendations, November 1996

In this policy document, the committee focussed its work on residential care, secure care being a subsection of this. It identified a range of challenges within residential care that needed to be addressed. Out of this review very clear recommendations were made, suggesting that a transformed child and youth care system should be developed and implemented.

The Transformation of the South African Child and Youth Care System: An Intersectoral Policy. Final Draft, May 2000

This document does not differ substantially from the earlier draft discussed above. In describing how residential care programmes should be 'multidimensional', it suggests family preservation, early intervention, educational bridging, drop-in shelter, five-day care, weekend treatment and community-family care as programming examples. Secure care facilities should also offer differentiated programmes, such as high or minimum security. It is recommended that reform schools be restructured as secure care facilities. This draft also notes that child and youth care workers, social workers and probation officers should form part of the staff team at schools serving youth in residential care.

Minimum Standards for the South African Child and Youth Care System

This document describes various minimum standards for a transformed child and youth care system. These standards are discussed under the following standards statements:

Engagement/Admission
Safety
Rights of Young people
Complaints
Reportable incidents or actions
Physical Environment
Emergency and Safety Practices
Transitional Planning
Privacy and confidentiality
Access to legal counsel, court and court appearance
Emotional and Social Care
Health Care
Behaviour management
Developmental milieu and climate
Care Plan
Individual Development Plan (IDP)
Reviews (of IDP and Care Plan)
Development opportunities and programmes
Therapeutic Programmes
Education
Disengagement

Minimum Norms and Standards for Diversion

This document divides norms and standards for diversion into three sections.

The first, Organizational Infrastructure and Systems includes the following topics:

legal structure
management (which includes governance, a business plan, financial systems and financial management, record keeping, profit, code of conduct, working agreement, recruitment procedures, disciplinary procedures, performance appraisal procedure, grievance procedure, psychological debriefing and/or supervision, programme environment, material resources and safety procedures, overnight and away from home care, drugs and controlled substances, protection of children's rights, promotional material, equipment and premises.

The second section, is Programme Facilitators Skills, including

Generic knowledge and skills for all facilitators
Additional knowledge and skills (wilderness or adventure therapy programmes; family group conferences, victim-offenders mediation and any other restorative processes; counselling and therapeutic programmes; sex offenders' programmes; and substance abuse/misuses programmes)
Additional competencies for the hosting/implementing organisation
Service level agreements

The third section has to do with Programme Standards, including

Programme Outcomes (post-arrest assessment before referral)
Diversion Programme Design and Delivery
Restorative Justice Process
Sex offender programmes

In each of these areas, indicators are provided of the standard, allowing an organization to identify if and the extent to which the standard is being met.

2. Inter-sectoral Collaboration

The secure care programme by its very nature demands an inter-sectoral approach. A number of departments must be involved in the statutory process otherwise the care of children is compromised. The role of the departments who have a critical role to play, are outlined briefly: (The complete roles and responsibilities is outlined in paragraph 4.8)

Department of Police: The arrest and containment of the child prior to appearing in court is a function of South African Police. SAPS must also accompany the child to court and handover the child to the secure care programme.
Department of Social Development: The Department of Social Development, in the form of a Probation officer, must assess the child and develop an assessment report in order for the Courts to make an informed decision about the placement of the child. The care of the child whilst awaiting trial falls within the mandate of the Department of Social Development to care and protect children.
National Prosecuting Authority: The NPA takes the decision as to whether to prosecute or divert.
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development: The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development makes out the order to await trail in a secure care programme. It is expected that, during this process, the child is assisted to access legal aid, which is also a function of this department.
Department of Education: The Act also makes provision for the child to have access to education whilst awaiting trial. Therefore whilst the child is in a secure care programme, there is a need for the Department of Education to provide or the education of the child.
Department of Labour: Many of the children awaiting trail, at the time of their arrest were no longer attending formal school. Therefore the Department of Labour also has a role to play in the vocational training programmes.

This programme will not be effective if these departments do not work collaboratively with one another. If one of these functions is not performed, the child will either languish in a police cell, the parent will not be informed of the whereabouts of the child, or the case of the child will continue over very long periods.

The Department of Social Development must sign Memorandums of Understanding with the Departments of Education, Police and Health to ensure the effective care and protection of children.

The one stop Justice Centre is an ideal model that favours inter-sectoral collaboration, as the management of the child is one smooth process. The purpose is to streamline the process from the arrest of a child to the formal court proceedings in a "child friendly" manner and to uphold the rights of the child. The outcome of this service for parents is that they have easier access to all the role players and also are aware of where their children will be placed whilst awaiting trial. Negotiations need to continue between the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the Department of Social Development to pursue the integration of the programmes.

3. Service development

The provision of secure care facilities and programmes lies in the domain of the State. Historically, services of this nature have been built by and remain assets of the State. However, the design of secure care facilities has been haphazard with each province designing and building according to their own frame of reference. This practice has been for all residential facilities within the country.

In order to standardise the construction of residential facilities the Department of Social Development has made the design of all residential facilities a function of the national department. This is to ensure that there is standardisation in terms of design principles, building specifications, infrastructure and optimal manner to manage children. In addition, these design principles were informed by an approach as how to best manage the movement of children within the centre. See Appendix 1 for the movement of children.

This is a positive approach as it allows for planning in terms of size of the site needed for the construction of secure care facilities, budgeting as the cost of constructing a centre will be available, as well as all infrastructure costs.

This means that for future services that need to be constructed, each province can access the basic design of the secure care facility from the national department.

The capacity may vary dependent on the need of the province. Provision should be made for a minimum of 60 beds and a maximum of 120 beds.

The design of a secure care programme must support the rights of children, the principles of care and protection of children and service delivery. The following design principles have been developed to inform the erection of secure care facilities:

Uniformity in design
- Branding for the DSD sector
- Green buildings principle
- Business processes to inform ergonomics and designs
- Accessibility for people with disabilities
- Form follows function
Adherence to standard building requirements
- Environmental and impact assessment
- Building regulations
- Occupational health and safety specifications
- Municipal regulations
- Space and cost norms
Non-institutionalised setting
- Warm, friendly and welcoming
- Modern design: fit for purpose
- Strive towards an environment with open spaces, colour, gardening and green recreational areas
- Security standards without the “prison bars” emphasis on rehabilitation rather than punishment
Adherence to norms and standards
- Child friendly

The core model must have the following elements. These are discussed briefly below:

Living quarters - Living quarters should be safe, clean and functional and in good state of repair. Rooms should be inward facing and open onto an entertainment area. Five children should be accommodated per room. Provision should also be made for a single room that may be utilised for children with special needs.
Offices within living quarters – Provision should be made for office space for a social worker and child and youth care worker.
Ablution facilities – Rooms should have en-suite bathrooms.
Recreation area within the living quarters - This area may be used as a lounge/TV room, group work facility or venue to complete homework.
Outdoor multipurpose quad – The quad may be utilised for the playing of games or meetings with all the children.
Indoor multipurpose recreation facility (hall) - There is adequate and appropriate indoor facilities in the centre for treatment activities, relaxation, recreation and exercise.
Gymnasium.
Out-door recreation facility – The out-door facilities should provide for standardised soccer, cricket, rugby, volleyball, soft ball, hockey fields as well as for an obstacle course.
Pool - The swimming pool should be fenced off and the area locked and the pool covered when not in use. Ablution blocks should be provided around the area.
Dining room - The dining area should provide for a serving area as well as adequate seating arrangements.
Medical facilities – The medical facility should consist of an admission room, medication room, examination room, sick bay and isolation room.
Visiting area – The visiting area must be private and comfortable.
Accommodation for families - The center has facilities to house families, travelling from far, when they visit their children.
Administration block – Provision should be made of adequate office space for personnel.
Library and resource centre.
School – The school should provide for classrooms, adequately equipped workshop facilities and a computer training centre.
Kitchen – A separate delivery entrance to the kitchen should be provided. Change rooms with lockers for kitchen staff, ablution facilities and an office for the supervisor should be available.
Laundry – Office space should be provided for the supervisor’s office and change rooms.
Store rooms.
Garages.
Vehicle vault – A secure area should be provided for the delivery of children.

All residential care facilities should structurally make provision for children with disabilities.

The facility must be located within communities and no further than 100km or 1 hour travelling time from the court and/or SAPS. A radius of 1 km, but not exceeding 5 km, should be maintained from the residential area. No other service, other than those to children in conflict with the law, should be provided from the same premises. The facility should be on a transport route for easy access.

The centre should have certain basic infrastructure and equipment in order to function successfully.

Independent living equipment.
Emergency equipment – Fire extinguishers and first-aid kits.
Living quarters - Each child has his/her own sturdily constructed bed and locker/cupboard.
Ablution facilities - 2 showers, 1 basin and 2 toilets for boys; 1 bath, 1 shower, 2 basins and 2 toilets for girls; 1 Bath, shower and toilet for disabled children.
Recreation area within the living quarters – Lounge furniture and tables.
Kitchen – The following should be provided: 4-plate industrial stoves with ovens, warmers, deep fryers, microwave oven, hydro boils, boilers, dishwasher, water coolers, food processors, extractor fans, cold room with shelves and storing pellets, walk in fridge/freezer, pantry, cupboards, dry store, chemical store, store room for kitchen utensils and crockery, bain-marie with inserts, serving bowls, trays and serving trolleys.

It is essential that there is compliance with Health, Safety, and Hygiene standards e.g. fire extinguishers and first aid kits, fly screens, mounted hand wash system, sterilising containers, etc.

Dining room - There should be enough crockery and cutlery for every child and extra eating utensils should be available upon need. Crockery & cutlery should be made from melamine. Stainless steel frame tables and chairs covered with fibreglass should be mounted to the floor.
Laundry - The laundry should be fully equipped with industrial washing machines, tumble dryers and shelves. Space should be provided for lockers, ablution facilities and a small storeroom for chemicals and detergents.
Administration office – The complex should be equipped with IT and telephone infrastructure and a dedicated server room.

The following infrastructure should be provided: Computers, printers, fax machines, a commercial grade photocopier, cellular telephones, laptop with 3G connection and data projector per facility.

Indoor facilities – Children have access to pool tables and board games.
Hall - The hall must have a capacity to accommodate 200 individuals. It should be equipped with a stage, a stage curtain, a fitted sound system and fitted chairs.
Out-door recreational facilities - Children have access to soccer-, rugby-, netball- and basket balls, baseball balls and bats and cricket sets.
Pool - Life jackets should be provided to children who cannot swim.
Medical facilities – Fully equipped admission room, lockable cupboard for medication, fridge, sterilisation equipment, fully equipped dressing room, emergency equipment and beds.
Client waiting area – Comfortable tables and chairs.
School – fully equipped workshop facilities.
Computer training room – Equipped with computers, desks and chairs.
Library and resource centre – Recreational and educational reading material should be provided.

4. Organisational Development

The secure care programme in our proposed core model must be conceptualised as an organisation. An organisation is a systematic arrangement of people brought together to accomplish some specific purpose.

There are three common characteristics that all organisations share. Every organisation has a purpose and is made up of people who are grouped together in some way. The purpose of an organisation is usually expressed in terms of a goal or a set of goals. Secondly, no goal can be achieved without people making decisions to establish the purpose and performing a variety of activities to make a goal reality. Thirdly, all organisations develop a systematic structure that defines and limits behaviour of its members. Developing structure may include, creating rules and regulations, giving some members supervisory control over other members, forming work teams and writing job descriptions so that the organisational members know what they are supposed to do.

The term organisation therefore refers to an entity that has a distinct purpose, has people or members and has a systematic structure. For the purpose of understanding the blueprint holistically the secure care programme, because of its residential nature and the services that it provides, can be referred to an organisation or an entity within the provincial government. It fits all the characteristics of the definition of an organisation, and in order for it to be effective, it must be managed as such. This approach does not mean that it will not need the support of the provincial department. There is a symbiotic relationship that must be strengthen and maintained at all costs.

Thus in order for the secure care programme to be efficient, it must define its purpose, have capable groups of people to deliver on this purpose and ensure that there is an appropriate structure in place to define accountability and responsibility.

4.1 Strategy, vision and mission

In order for an organisation to achieve its goals (purpose), there is a need to have a strategy in place to guide the people on what needs to be achieved. This is usually referred to as the strategic management process and involves strategic planning, implementation and evaluation. In order to develop the strategy, organisational members must identify current mission objectives and strategies. The mission statement is usually the purpose of the organisation and answers the question of “what business are we in”. It is critical that the secure care programme undertake a strategic management process exercise periodically as there must be a constant improvement in the services that are rendered to the target group. This process will inform the relevancy of the programme, its impact and what changes need to be made to improve services.

The blueprint should serve as a basis for the strategy for the secure care programme nationally, and provinces will customise this strategy to meet their own needs. The important point is that all organisations must go through these processes in order to make them more effective.

4.2 Delivery mechanisms

The secure care programme cannot be delivered by either tier of government. The Constitution has made welfare a concurrent function of both national and provincial tiers of government. Secondly, the constitution also makes provision for intersectoral collaboration. The secure care programme by its very nature requires the concurrent application of roles and responsibilities of both the national and provincial departments of social development.

This programme is strengthened by other departments playing their collaborative role. This is reiterated in the Children’s Act 38.2005 (as amended).

The roles and responsibilities of the National Department of Social Development are spelt out in the White Paper for Social Welfare. The national Department of Social Development will be responsible for the following functions. For ease of reference, these are outlined below:

Co-ordination: To harmonise central functions with those of other national departments, provincial governments and other national role players.
National policy and planning: To determine and review policy and to conduct integrated welfare and development planning which will be implemented inter-provincially, inter-sectorally and in collaboration with the RDP.
Norms and standards for social services and development programmes, social security and facilities: To determine and regularly review basic guidelines for norms and standards.
Legislation: To review existing national welfare legislation, to formulate comprehensive legislation, and to promote the synchronisation of the provinces’ statutory measures.
Marketing: To promote awareness of social welfare issues at all levels within relevant sectors; to promote co-operation and involvement; and to consult with provinces.
Social welfare governance structures: To develop and maintain appropriate consultative bodies; to represent the national department on other national structures; to establish inter-sectoral consultative structures; and to co-operate with, and facilitate where necessary, the development of provincial consultative structures in partnership with all role players.
Human resource development: To undertake human resource management, planning and development; to set guidelines for professional standards and accreditation systems for all personnel; to facilitate the representation of personnel in appropriate industrial relations structures.
National programmes: To design, finance, implement, evaluate and manage specific national programmes.
Social welfare financing: To develop uniform financial management systems, plans and financing criteria for social service organisations, social development programmes, social security and a national fund-raising policy; to establish taxation policies for welfare organisations; to administer national relief funds; and to mobilise additional development sponsorship.
National information system: To develop, maintain and co-ordinate a national welfare information system to undergird welfare planning; and to initiate and undertake operational research.
Capacity and institution building: To facilitate capacity and institution building in all tiers of Government.
Parliamentary liaison: To facilitate the parliamentary process.
International liaison: To undertake international liaison.

The abovementioned responsibilities should remain as is, unless special agreement has been reached between a province and the national body. By virtue of the concurrent nature of the roles and responsibilities, the relationship is symbiotic, as one cannot deliver the service without the other. Whilst the roles and responsibilities are generally understood, the relationship between the province and its structures in the secure care programme is not clearly defined. The White Paper for Social Welfare defines the role of Provincial departments as follows:

Provincial policy and planning: To formulate, co-ordinate, maintain and review provincial policy and planning in consultation with all stakeholders.
Legislation: To review, formulate and administer social welfare legislation within the framework of the national policy.
Social welfare services: To plan, implement, co-ordinate and monitor the delivery of developmental welfare services; to implement and monitor programmes in accordance with national norms and standards; and to develop and render specific services.
Social welfare governance structures: To initiate and facilitate the development and maintenance of social welfare governance structures.
Funding: To negotiate for provincial funding and to maintain financial management systems; to administer disaster and relief funds; to regulate fundraising at the provincial level; to finance social welfare programmes provided by organisations in accordance with national policy; and to formulate and review the criteria for such funding.
Information and research: To undertake, promote and co-ordinate appropriate operational research and to maintain a welfare information system in collaboration with all role players.
Human resource development: To manage and plan a human resource development programme.
Marketing: To promote awareness of welfare matters.
Parliamentary liaison: To facilitate the provincial parliamentary process.
Interprovincial relations: To promote interprovincial relations and to develop and maintain inter-sectoral and interprovincial working agreements.

These provincial functions will be implemented through a head office. In addition, regional, local and district formations and facilities may be established according to provincial needs.

In short, the National departments enable service delivery by providing the legislation, policies and strategies, norms and standards, and practice guidelines. In addition they coordinate all the programmes implemented at provincial level. Provinces on the other hand must formulate provincial policy and administer social welfare legislation. Furthermore, Provinces must plan, implement, coordinate and monitor the delivery of services, implement and monitor programmes in accordance with national norms and standards and develop and render specific services.

The relationship that exists between the national and provincial tiers of government must be replicated between the province and the secure care programme. The secure care programme is borne out of a legislative mandate that provinces have to deliver on. Therefore the development, maintenance, monitoring and evaluating of the programme must inform the relationship.

The proposed relationship structure is attached as Annexure 1.

It is a well known fact that most of the provinces do not have the capacity to implement the programme and have brought in a service provider to deliver the programme. Our understanding is that the service is provided for Government and therefore the service provider must abide by the same rules, regulations, policies, norms and standards and practice guidelines as prescribed for the programme that is being run by the State. Furthermore, a standardised service level agreement must guide the out-sourcing process.

The provision of secure care facilities and programmes lies in the domain of the State.

4.3 Organisational structure

Due to the concurrent nature of this programme, there is a need for a structure at a national level that will be solely responsible for the oversight of all these types of programmes nationally. The directorate- Social crime prevention is mandated to perform this function. This structure should be replicated on provincial level as the implementing arm. These structures demand that there should be a direct relationship between the directorate at national and at the provincial level. Provinces have to account to the national department, as well as their principles at a provincial level, on the success and failure of their programmes. The responsibility of the National Department is thus to coalesce all provincial programmes into a national perspective.

The provincial departments have decentralised service provision to provide greater access to beneficiaries of the service. The principle of accessibility is in line with the 10-point plan of the previous minister. However, decentralisation comes with its own challenges. The decentralisation model of each of the provinces must inform the relationship between programmes in the community and accountability structures.

4.4 Organogram

The strategy for secure care programmes informs the structure to deliver services.

The following diagram illustrates the type of structures that need to be in place in every organisation.

There is a need for managers and operatives. Managers are individuals who direct the work of others, whilst operatives are people who work directly on a job and have no responsibility for overseeing the work of others.

The staff establishment should consist of management-, middle management-, supervisory- and operational personnel.

The following posts are a minimum:

Management posts
Professional posts
Semi-professional posts
Operational posts
Supporting posts
Sessional posts
Contractual posts

A proforma organogram is attached as Appendix 2.

The posts will be discussed in more detail in point 5.1.

5. Resources

In order for organisations to achieve its purpose sufficient resources must be in place, these include human, financial and all other resources that will enable an operative or manger to deliver on his or her responsibility. Infrastructure, furniture, equipment and vehicles are also defined as resources. In addition to the resources, there are organisational enablers such as administrative systems, processes and procedures that must be in place to ensure an efficient and effective service.

5.1 Human resources

The secure care programme is made up of therapeutic, developmental, recreational, spiritual/religious, cultural and caring components. Therefore, the programme informs the type of staff that must be on the staff establishment. A proforma staff establishment (organogram) has been developed to guide provinces when they develop new services and to assist with re-structuring of current staff establishments for secure care programmes.

The staff establishment of a secure care centre should be according to a proforma organogram and provide for the following posts:

Management posts
Professional posts - types & registration
Semi-professional posts
Operational posts
Supporting posts
Sessional posts
Contractual posts

The organogram should provide for the following personnel:

Centre manager
Center manager secretary
Social workers
Substance abuse specialist
Nursing personnel
Child & youth care workers
Occupational therapist or assistant occupational therapists – could be sessional
Finance personnel
Administrative personnel
Maintenance personnel
Cleaning personnel

A medical doctor and psychologist can be employed on a sessional basis.

Security personnel may be appointed on a contractual basis.

5.2 Qualifications of personnel

Centre manager - The manager must be a registered professional from an appropriate discipline, must have specialized knowledge of child and youth care, have proven leadership abilities, be able to demonstrate management and administration skills and have knowledge and experience of the secure care programme.
Social workers - Social workers must have the necessary qualification, must be registered with the SACSSP and knowledge and experience in the context of residential care and the design of programmes for residential care.
Nursing personnel – This category of personnel should include at least two registered nursing sisters of which one should have a qualification in psychiatry.
Child & youth care workers - Child and youth care staff should hold at least a post-matric qualification in child and youth care work and where possible a degree or diploma.
Occupational therapist or assistant occupational therapists - The occupational therapist should have an appropriate qualification and be registered to an appropriate council.
Psychologist – The psychologist should have an appropriate qualification and be registered to an appropriate council.
Educators - The educators should have an appropriate qualification, be employed in terms of Public Service Act and be registered with their professional body

It is essential that all personnel, inclusive of sessional and contracted personnel, be trained in the basic qualification in secure care.

All personnel in the child and youth care system and supportive components should have access to appropriate and effective formal training, in-service training and developmental supervision. Supervision must be of a high standard, based on a developmental approach and accessible to everyone.

All staff working in a residential care centre, including senior personnel who manage the centre, should be held accountable to a child and youth care ethical code of conduct.

5.3 Financial resources

The budget must be informed by the strategic plan of the programme. A programmatic approach must be introduced into budgeting. The nature of this programme, especially if prevention and early intervention programmes be introduced, demands that the budget makes provision for out-reach programmes and other externalities, e.g. transport for parents to visit and overnight stay of parents. This approach will allow for all programmes to be allocated for. Managers can also be held accountable for their programme budget. This means that a holistic approach must be taken when developing this budget.

5.4 Infrastructure

This issue was discussed under point 2.

5.5 Furniture and equipment

This issue was discussed under point 2.

6. Organisational enablers

Organisational enablers are resources that make it possible to complete tasks, activities and process. The nature of this programme demands that the following policies and procedures are in place:

6.1 Organisational policies and procedures

Registration of centre.
Safety procedures, i.e. emergency plan, evacuation plan, first-aid and pool safety.
Health and safety, i.e. pest control, refuse disposal
Supply chain management.
Procedure manual for the laundry system.
There is a documented procedure manual in place for administration processes.
There is a documented procedure manual in place for human resource management.
There is a documented procedure manual in place for the management of official vehicles.
There is a documented HR policy and procedure manuals in place.

6.2 Child specific policies and procedures

Procedural guidelines on admission criteria and procedure.
Procedural guidelines on individual, confidential files.
Procedural guidelines on behaviour management.
Procedural guidelines on reportable incidents.
Procedural guidelines on temporary seclusion and physical restraint.
Procedural guidelines on the release of children from the facility.
Procedural guidelines on the re-admission of children to the facility. (Return from appearance in court proceedings and return after absconding.) Supply chain management to be executed in accordance with provincial policy.
There is a documented policy and procedure in place relating to the health care of children.
There is a documented policy and procedure in place relating to the transport of children.
Procedural guidelines on compulsory registers, i.e. admission register, allocation register, behaviour management register, incident book and reportable incidents.
Standardised forms for uniform service delivery, i.e. assessment form, process notes, care plan, IDP and progress reports.

7 Services to beneficiaries

Immigrant children and unaccompanied foreign minors must be awarded the same rights, and be exposed to the same programmes as any other child.

Regardless of the length of stay or the reason for admission, each child should have a developmentally appropriate plan and programme of care, education and therapeutic development and should participate in and review this plan.

All children admitted to a secure care centre must be developmentally assessed by a probation officer prior to admission. It is the responsibility of the multi-disciplinary team at the centre to build on this assessment and develop a care plan and individual development plan. Assessment within the centre is focussed on the child in terms of their daily and long term development. Family preservation principles and family/community reunification and integration are central. It is thus critical that assessment (and the subsequent individual developmental/therapeutic programme) includes the child, family and community in a meaningful partnership. The social worker should regularly and frequently seek the views of the child, his/her parents and the probation officer on the content and implementation of the IDP and take the views of the child into account in initiating and making changes to the plan.

All services and programmes, whether individually or in a group, should be based on the developmental assessment, care plan and individual development plan. The following programmes should be provided for:

Therapeutic programmes - Programmes must be rehabilitative, improve social functioning and be restorative in nature. These programmes must be rendered by the social worker, psychologist and occupational therapist by means of individual and/or group sessions.
Development programmes - Children have access to an educational or vocational programme which is suitable to their capacity, circumstances and developmental needs. Education for children under the age of 16 years is mandatory and plays a critical role in the lives of children. It should thus be seen as core components in an effective child and youth care system. Schooling should be holistic and not entirely focussed upon academic development. Schools should have adequate human and material resources to ensure that children who experience emotional and/or behavioural difficulties are not victimised or marginalised. The education system and residential care centres should, in collaboration, make appropriate provision for children who might require informal schooling, bridging programmes, literacy and vocational training. The relationship between the Departments of Social Development and Education should be formalised. The roles and responsibilities of each department should be clearly outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding.
Recreational programmes – Structured in-door and out-door programmes. These programmes must be rendered by the child and youth care worker by means of individual and/or group sessions.
Spiritual/religious programmes - Children practice their right to observe and preserve their religious heritage. These programmes are rendered by volunteers.
Cultural programmes - Children practice their right to observe and preserve their cultural heritage. These programmes must be rendered by the child and youth care worker by means of individual and/or group sessions.
Care programmes - Developmental life skills and life space programmes. These programmes must be rendered by the child and youth care worker by means of individual and/or group sessions.

8 Ethos of services

The starting point for the care of children in conflict with the law is that they should wherever possible be kept in their families and communities. This applies throughout the pre-trial, trial and sentencing phases.

As a result of the South African Constitution and the ratification of various international conventions, South African children who are detained in a residential care centre have special protections and rights.

In line with international and local developments in child and youth care work and social work, the key to child and youth care is to move away from a medical model which focuses on weaknesses, categorising, labelling, helping and curing towards a developmental and ecological perspective which focuses on reframing problems as strengths, on competency building, and residential environments which empower children, families and communities.

The model described in this policy is a corporatist model which blends aspects of the Welfare and Justice models. The due process and prosecution orientated Justice Model is replaced or supplemented by an approach which places value on alternative programmes for children. These programmes prefer to keep them out of the formal justice system whilst at the same time assuring that they are held accountable for their behaviour. The “treatment” of the old Welfare model, and the “punishment” of the justice model, is replaced by restorative justice concepts which centre on conflict resolution and the involvement of children, families and communities in the decision-making process. The outcomes focus on the retraining of children to respect themselves and others and to play a meaningful role in society.

Elements that underpin the model:

Developmental approach - A developmental approach or model in the context of the child and youth care system refers to:
- Focusing on strengths rather than pathology
- Building competency rather than attempting to cure
- Encouragement of trial-and-error learning
- Always taking the context into consideration
- Understanding and responding appropriately to developmental tasks and needs
- Working with the total person, not the so called “pathology” or problem.
- A strong belief (reflected in practice) of the potential within each child and family (regardless of the reason for referral). Work is aimed at maximising potential rather than minimising the problem.
- An emphasis on most of the “treatment” taking place in the daily living environment of the child
- A multi-disciplinary team (not a hierarchy) approach in which the child and family are recognised as full members of the team.
Ecological approach (child in the family) – The ecological approach refers to the practice of understanding and viewing each person within the context of, and connected to, their family and community.
Restoring and Rehabilitative in nature - The approach to children in trouble with the law should focus on restoring societal harmony and putting wrongs right rather than punishment. The child should be held accountable for his or her actions and where possible make amends to the victim.
Programmes must be therapeutic in nature - No residential care facility, should merely offer custodial care to children. Any child, who needs only custodial care, would be inappropriately and unjustifiably placed within a residential care centre. Programmes and activities to promote and maintain healthy development should be ensured.
Programmes must restore dignity - Containment of children in secure care should be effective whilst maintaining respect for the young person’s well-being and dignity. Interventions should be of such a nature that children cannot be physically, socially or emotionally hurt.
Community participation must be encouraged – Programmes should be differentiated or multi-dimensional, offering a range of appropriate child and youth care services to the surrounding community such as family preservation, early intervention, weekend treatment, community-family care, etc.
Multi-disciplinary approach to programmes - A multi-disciplinary approach is strongly recommended, with no particular discipline in a dominant position, but recognises that in different settings a particular discipline may play the primary role or may lead the multi-disciplinary process.
After care and follow up (where appropriate).
Secure care facilities require well-trained staff that has been specially selected for their positive attitudes and willingness to work with children. All personnel must have a basic qualification in child care as minimum to entry.
Continuous development - All personnel in the child and youth care system, and supportive components, should have access to appropriate and effective in-service training and developmental supervision.

9 Transversal areas

Quality assurance programmes should be implemented within a developmental perspective and by an independent and objective team comprising both NGO and government personnel.

5.6.2 Option 1: Services to sentenced children (Reform school)

All of the elements of the secure care core model remain the same, with the following differentiators:

Care should be taken that the total capacity of the centre, inclusive of the secure care programme and the programme for sentenced children does not exceed 120 children. E.g. 20 girls for secure care; 60 boys for secure care; 40 boys/girls in the reform school.
In a 60-bed facility, only 1/3 (20 beds) should be utilised for the reform school programme.
Sleeping quarters for sentenced children must be kept separate from children awaiting trial.
Sleeping quarters for sentenced children are to be closed down during holiday season when children visit their families.

5.6.3 Option 2: Diversion programme

This option includes both a day and residential diversion programmes.

Children can be ordered under the Child Justice Act to be subjected to a diversion programme. Diversion programmes are divided into two levels, where level 2 is applicable to diversion inclusive of a residential element. Where a diversion option from level 2 is selected in respect of a child who is under the age of 14 years, the order may not exceed 24 months in duration, and if the child is 14 years or older, the order may, not exceed 48 months in duration.

In the event that this option is implemented, all of the elements of the secure care core model remain the same, with the following differentiators:

This programme is short term, over a fixed period.
The programme could have a residential element or may be a day programme.
This programme may be presented outside of formal working hours, e.g. weekends and after hours.
Programmes have to be structured according to set steps and must be outcome based.
Strict monitoring and evaluation systems need to be developed for the monitoring of the child’s progress, including his or her compliance with the conditions of a diversion order.
This programme must include an element which seeks to ensure that the child understands the impact of his or her behaviour on others, including the victim of the offence, and may include compensation or restitution.
Children who cannot afford transport in order to attend the selected diversion programme should, as far as is reasonably possible, be provided with the means to do so.

5.7 High level norms and standards

The high level norms will be described in accordance to the following core components:

Legislative framework
Service Development
Organisational development
Resources
Organisational enablers
Services to beneficiaries
Ethos of services
Transversal areas

5.7.1 Legislative framework

Compliance with legislation and policy

All residential care programmes for children should be registered with the appropriate authorities.

5.7.2 Service development

Infrastructure

The infrastructure of a residential facility must be of a child friendly nature as well as meet the elements of safety, functionality, durability and aesthetically pleasing.

Security

Security services should create a safe environment in which children are protected from physical harm, or threat of harm, from self and others in a non-intrusive manner.

Out-sourcing

Out-sourcing of services within the secure care should be practiced with the understanding that provinces retain accountability and responsibility for service provision to children in conflict with the law.

Maintenance

The building, infrastructure and all household equipment should be maintained and kept in good working order. The landscape and gardens must be cared for, neat and aesthetically pleasing at all times.

5.7.3 Organisational Development

Assessment of the Environment

This refers to any assessment of the Social Environment to identify the need for the establishment of additional secure care facilities. The statistics of children committing crimes should also be used as an indicator when assessing the environment. Provinces should determine the size and location of the secure care programme based on these statistics.

Occupational Health Issues

The facility must comply with all occupational health legislation in the pursuance of their functions, and ensuring the safety of the children.

Community Participation

Secure care facility should become centres where children, youth and families from the surrounding communities can access a variety of programmes and resources on a daily, weekly, or ad hoc basis.

5.7.4 Resources

Human Resources

At every level there will be appropriately trained personnel who will provide an integrated, innovative, effective, ethical and child-friendly service within a developmental culture/climate. Personnel will be committed to and model a developmental approach and they will value diversity of theory, strategies and programmes. There will be sufficient personnel at all levels; they will value and practice an inter-sectoral and team approach and because they value human resources they will give a high priority to continuous formal and informal professional and self development.

Professional services

Services to children must be holistic and comprehensive, and inter-sectoral collaboration must be pursued in the upholding of the children’s right to education and health services and any other service that a child may need, whilst being contained.

Management and Leadership

The programme must be managed according to business principles. Leadership of the programme must be from a team perspective, but steeped in strong management discipline.

Stock

The centre must have adequate and appropriate stock to meet at least the basic needs of children. Children must be given sufficient food, clothing and other essentials to meet their daily living needs.

5.7.5 Organisational enablers

Administration and management systems

All policies and procedures must be documented and made available to all staff members.

Information Management

In order for the system to be able to respond to changing needs it is necessary for the state to ensure that statistics are gathered pertaining to all aspects of the system. Through analysis of such data the system can “learn” and adapt.

5.7.6 Services to beneficiaries

Caring environment

The environment and resources at a secure care centre should be of such a nature that it provides in the basic care of children.

Transitional Planning

All services to children must be planned, and each stage of the process of planning must add value to the development of the child. An appropriate developmental assessment must be conducted as the key to decision making, programme referral and individual planning around the young person and his/her future.

Programmes

Secure care facility must offer programmes which can and do meet the full range of developmental needs appropriate to the age, gender, disability and developmental phase of the young person, including emotional, physical, spiritual, intellectual, and social needs.

Programmes should be differentiated or multi-dimensional, offering a range of appropriate child and youth care services to the surrounding community such as family preservation, prevention, early intervention, educational bridging, drop-in shelter, 5-day care, weekend treatment, community-family care, etc.

5.7.7 Ethos of services

Children’s Rights

The programme must be rights based and at all times, all children must be made aware of their rights and responsibilities within the programme, in a manner and form which takes into account their age, capacity and linguistic heritage.

5.7.8 Transversal areas

Monitoring and Evaluation

All programmes and activities must be monitored effectively and is essential for measuring the success of service provision. This will assist service providers at all levels to manage their programmes and activities better by providing timely feedback on whether or not services provided respond to the needs of clients, and furthermore, whether they are consistent with the overall realisation of the objectives of the facility. The feedback provided can be used to improve current operations and to provide the basis for future strategic planning.

5.8 Value adding processes

Children in conflict with the law go through a variety of processes prior to their admission in secure care centres. These different processes are also handled by various service providers. Following is a description of the entire process as well as an indication of the responsible service provider.

5.8.1 The Child Justice Process

In the South African criminal justice system young people who are arrested on charges go from this contact with the system into a chain of events leading to conviction. The process can be explained as follows:

Children suspected of committing an offence

The first opportunity for intervention comes when the child first comes into contact with the police. Where a police official has reason to believe that a child suspected of having committed an offence is under the age of 10 years, he or she may not arrest the child, and must immediately hand the child over to his or her parents or an appropriate adult or a guardian, or if it is not in the best interests of the child to a suitable child and youth care centre. The probation officer must immediately be notified.

If the child is suspected of committing a schedule 1 offence, the matter can be referred to the prosecutor who will decide whether diversion is appropriate. If the child is suspected of committing a schedule 2 or 3 offence, the child should attend a preliminary inquiry. The methods of securing the attendance of a child at a preliminary inquiry are:

A written notice.
A summons.
Arrest.

The child must appear for the first time at a preliminary inquiry within 48 hours after arrest.

Custody during the first 24 or 48 hours

The general principle regarding custody in the period following arrest is that wherever possible the child should be released into the care of his or her parent or guardian and be allowed to return home.

When considering the release or detention of a child who has been arrested, preference must be given to releasing the child prior to his/her first appearance at a preliminary inquiry. A police official must, where appropriate, release a child on written notice into the care of a parent, an appropriate adult or guardian.

A police official who releases a child from detention and places the child in the care of a parent or an appropriate adult or guardian, must, at the time of the release of the child, hand to the child and to the person into whose care the child is released, a written notice to appear at a preliminary inquiry.

Assessment

Every child who is alleged to have committed an offence must be assessed by a probation officer, unless assessment has been dispensed with. Developmental Assessment is a fundamental component of the early intervention phase.

The probation officer must complete an assessment report with recommendations on the following issues:

The possible referral of the matter to a children’s court.
The appropriateness of diversion, including a particular diversion service provider and a particular diversion option.
The possible release of the child into the care of a parent, an appropriate adult or guardian or on his or her own recognisance.
If it is likely that the child could be detained after the first appearance at the preliminary inquiry, the placement of the child in a specified child and youth care centre or prison.
In the case of a child under the age of 10 years, establish what measures need to be taken.
The possible criminal capacity of the child if the child is 10 years or older but under the age of 14 years, as well as measures to be taken in order to prove criminal capacity.
Whether a further and more detailed assessment of the child is required in order to consider the circumstances.
An estimation of the age of the child if this is uncertain.

Preliminary Inquiry

If, during a preliminary inquiry or during proceedings before a child justice court, the age of a child at the time of the commission of the alleged offence is uncertain, the presiding officer must determine the age of the child.

A preliminary inquiry is an informal pre-trial procedure which is inquisitorial in nature and may be held in a court or any other suitable place.

The objectives of a preliminary inquiry are to:

Consider the assessment report of the probation officer.
Establish whether the matter can be diverted before plea.
Identify a suitable diversion option, where applicable.
Establish whether the matter should be referred in to a children’s court.
Ensure that all available information relevant to the child, his or her circumstances and the offence are considered in order to make a decision on diversion and placement of the child.
Ensure that the views of all persons present are considered before a decision is taken.
Encourage the participation of the child and his or her parent, an appropriate adult or a guardian in decisions concerning the child.
Determine the release or placement of a child.

A preliminary inquiry must be held in respect of every child who is alleged to have committed an offence, except where the matter has been diverted by a prosecutor, the child is under the age of 10 years or the matter has been withdrawn. The preliminary inquiry must be held within 48 hours of arrest if a child is arrested and remains in detention.

The preliminary inquiry is a multi-disciplinary process. The decisions should not be taken by one person alone. Besides the police representative, prosecutor, probation officer, the young person and his or her parent or guardian, lay or community participation is recommended. Where possible the victim should be consulted in keeping with the principles of restorative justice. All decisions should be monitored to ensure consistency, accountability and effectiveness.

Diversion

In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Beijing rules and other international instruments, young people should be diverted from the criminal justice system into programmes where this is appropriate. All cases should be considered for diversion. Diversion is the channeling of prima facie cases away from the criminal justice system on certain conditions. These conditions are usually the participation in particular programmes and / or reparation where possible.

At present diversion services are rendered by NGO’s and Departments of Social Development in the provinces.

Currently the decision to allow for diversion is made by the public prosecutor or inquiry magistrate.

When making a diversion order, the magistrate, inquiry magistrate or child justice court must identify a probation officer or other suitable person to monitor the child’s compliance with the diversion order.

Children’s Court inquiry

The Children’s Court should be central to the issue of Youth Justice. At assessment it will become clear if a child is in need of care and protection, and such children should be referred to the Children’s Court.

Custody whilst awaiting trial

There are circumstances where the release of a child is not immediately possible or not possible at all. When it becomes clear that the child has no parent or guardian or that such parent or guardian is unable or unwilling to take custody of the child, and this situation is unlikely to change, a decision will have to be taken regarding the most appropriate place for him or her to be held during the awaiting trial period. Taking into account the age of the child, his or her particular needs and the seriousness of the alleged offence, a decision must be taken regarding whether secure care is necessary. Consideration must also be given to the ability of the family to visit the young person during the awaiting trial period.

The decision to hold a young person in custody, even in a secure care facility must be regularly reviewed by the presiding officer of the case, as circumstances may change.

A presiding officer may also order the detention of a child in a prison, if:

An application for bail has been postponed or refused or bail has been granted but one or more conditions have not been complied with.
The child is 14 years or older.
The child is accused of having committed an offence referred to in Schedule
The detention is necessary in the interests of the administration of justice or the safety or protection of the public or the child or another child in detention.
There is likelihood that the child, if convicted, could be sentenced to imprisonment.

Where a child has been or is to be detained and placed in a child and youth care centre or prison, the presiding officer at a preliminary inquiry or child justice court must at every subsequent appearance of the child determine whether or not the detention remains necessary and appropriate.

Custody in a Secure Care facility

It is the responsibility of the secure care facility to provide daily care and supervision to children ordered into their custody.

Upon arrival at the specific secure care centre, the child will be designated to his/her living quarters by a social worker or child and youth care worker. The social worker and care worker must assist the child in adjusting to the new environment. The child will also be issued with the relevant clothing and toiletries.

The child will be expected to attend an orientation programme. The orientation programme provides the following information:

Who their case manager is and information on access to the case manager.
Information regarding the centre’s expectations.
Information regarding the centre rules, their rights, their responsibilities and resources available. (4 R’s)
Information on routines of the centre.
Information regarding their present placement and the plan for their immediate future.

Children in need of health care, mental health care and occupational therapy will be assessed by the relevant professional and receive the appropriate therapy.

The social worker must ensure that there is continuity of services and must conduct a developmental assessment, as part of the multi-disciplinary team, and develop a care plan and individual development plan. Individual and group therapy, by the social worker, child and youth care worker, psychologist, occupational therapist and nursing staff, is based on these plans. The plans must be reviewed regularly.

It is of utmost importance that there is ongoing interface between the residential care facility and the probation officer. The probation officer must remain in contact with the child, his/her family and the secure care centre. The probation officer therefore forms part of the multi-disciplinary team and should attend the reviews of the care plan.

The children will also be exposed to educational-, recreational-, sport-, religious- and cultural programmes.

Trial in Child Justice Court

Any child whose matter has been referred to the child justice court must appear before a court with the requisite jurisdiction. A child justice court must apply the relevant provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act relating to plea and trial of accused persons.

Sentencing

A child justice court imposing a sentence must request a pre-sentence report prepared by a probation officer prior to the imposition of sentence.

The following sentencing options can be imposed:

Community-based sentences - A community-based sentence is a sentence which allows a child to remain in the community.
Restorative Justice Sentences – A child justice court that convicts a child of an offence may refer the matter to a family group conference, for victim-offender mediation, or to any other restorative justice process which is in accordance with the definition of restorative justice.
Fine or alternatives to fine.
Sentences involving correctional supervision.
Sentence of compulsory residence in child and youth care centre – This sentence may be imposed for a period not exceeding five years or for a period which may not exceed the date on which the child turns 21 years of age.
Sentence of imprisonment.
Postponement or suspension of passing of sentence.

Sentenced to a Child and Youth Care Centre

It is the responsibility of the secure care centre to provide daily care and supervision to children ordered into their custody.

The child will be expected to attend an orientation programme. The orientation programme provides the following information:

Who their case manager is and information on access to the case manager.
Information regarding the centre’s expectations.
Information regarding the centre rules, their rights, their responsibilities and resources available. (4 R’s)
Information on routines of the centre.
Information regarding their present placement and the plan for their immediate future.

Children in need of health care, mental health care and occupational therapy will be assessed by the relevant professional and receive the appropriate therapy.

It is of utmost importance that there is ongoing interface between the residential care facility and the external social worker. The social worker must remain in contact with the child, his/her family and the centre. The role of the external social worker is to render reconstruction services to the family to ensure that the family is ready to receive the child back into their care.

The children will also be exposed to educational-, recreational-, sport-, religious- and cultural programmes.

The process map is attached as Annexure 3.

5.8.2 Specific roles and responsibility of service providers

1. Investigating officer

Inform child of his/her rights
Transport the child to the police station where he/she.
Formally charge child
Inform Parent about child’s arrest immediately and ask for proof of age.
Inform the probation officer.
If the child appears to have been injured take the child for medical attention immediately.
If the child has no proof of age, the child has to be taken to the district surgeon for assessment.

2. Probation officer

Conduct assessment of child at court and draft report
Locate appropriate placement for the child
Present report to court
Forward the assessment report to the Centre (prior to the admission of the child).
Attend review of the Individual Development Plan.

2. Social worker (Centre)

Admission of child to the Centre to assist the child in adjusting to the new environment.
Orientation of the child in terms of: (within 24 hours of admission)
- Orientation regarding the centre
- Centre rules
- Their rights and responsibilities
- Resources available
- Plan for their immediate future
Initial assessment
- Explain the role of the Social Worker to the Child
- Determine the child’s background
- Inform the family about the child’s whereabouts if possible allows the child to talk to the parent/guardian.
Compile and IDP with other relevant role players
- Convene an MDT session.
- Determine the relevant program to be followed.
- Implementation and monitoring of the program (progress and Process notes).
- Individual counselling
- As per request and circumstances.
- Keep process, progress note and case review report
Facilitate group work
- Plan and facilitate group work session such as Life skills, Anger Management etc.
Facilitate Family Group Conferences
- Plan and facilitate FGC
Outreach Programs/Awareness Program
Attend forum meetings
Link/refer the child with other resources such Legal Aid.
Home visit/Cell visit
After Care services
Pre and Post court counselling
Court appearances as guardian or character witness.
Participate in unit meeting
Capacity building
Administrative duties
Send a progress report to the Probation officer with recommendations.
Disengagement - Children are provided with sufficient information regarding their immediate future, their next placement, or the next step in their Care Plan.

3. Child care workers

Reception and admission of child to the dormitory to assist the child in adjusting to the new environment.
- Verification of documents: J7, Body receipts, Assessment report, Birth Certificates etc
- Attend to immediate needs. E.g. food, bath, clothing.
- Allocation to room.
- Observation and logging.
- Record admission in occurrence book and registers.
- Make telephonic contact with child’s family. (Inform them about child’s admission)
Orientation of the child to the centre.
- Explain what to expect - how centre is run.
Assessment and IDP
- Attend the review of the IDP and Care Plan.
- 4-6 weeks after admission Care worker to compile report on his/her observation and present this to MD team.
Observation and logging (Child must be allocated to a specific care worker)
- Continuous observation and logging.
- Supervision of and daily care of children.
- Ensure that the child is safe at all times.
- Supervision and monitoring the behaviour, movement, and participation of child in programs.
- Escort Child to external services e.g. hospital, Psychologists etc
- Allocate clothing and toiletries on a regular basis.
- Organize Family visits and contacts.
- Co-ordinate disengagement activities. E.g. Fare well parties.
- Individual interviews with children in accordance with their IDP.
- Group sessions with children with similar needs in accordance with their IDP.
- Coordinate recreational (sport, art, play) programmes with children.
- Monitoring and reporting on damages, loss and all reportable incidents. E.g. Sodomy.
- Control Care worker (Chief Care Worker) must refer some cases to the Social Worker.
Provide basic counselling to child.
Preparation for court appearance. (Emotionally, Physically, Prepare food, prepare clothes etc)
Provide daily care of children.
Disengagement

4. Doctor

Medical assessment of all children within 24 hours of admission.
Treatment of children if needed.
Attend the review of the IDP and Care Plan.

5. Psychologist

Psychological assessment of child within 72 hours if needed.
Attend the review of the IDP and Care Plan.
Provide individual therapy for children if needed.

6. Occupational therapist

Assessment of children presenting with developmental blockages.
Individual therapy for children if needed.
Attend the review of the IDP and Care Plan.

7. Educators

Provide education including vocational training to all children.
Attend the review of the IDP and Care Plan.

5.9 Out-sourcing

The management of secure care programmes has traditionally been one of the functions that have been performed by the state only. However, since the crisis in this service (1994), this service has been out-sourced.

Out-sourcing is an acceptable practice in the public service. Out-sourcing is sub-contracting a service to a third party to deliver the service. The decision to out-source is often made in the interest of lowering cost or making better use of time and energy, or lack of special knowledge and expertise within the organisation, and obtaining operational efficiency.

The intention of out-sourcing is not to permanently relinquish this function. Out-sourcing has to be time bound and should not be seen as a permanent option for the delivery of a service.

Within this context, more and more secure care programmes are currently being out-sourced. Whilst the rationale for out-sourcing the secure care programme is understood, the critical dimension of retrieval is not being considered by the provincial departments. There is a pervasive misunderstanding that once a service is out-sourced it should remain out-sourced.

In addition to this paradigm, no two provinces have the same approach to out-sourcing services within secure care. This results in out-sourced programme having a number of anomalies and very little synergy. The blueprint addresses these anomalies with outsourced services within secure care in provinces.

An out-sourcing strategy should be developed with a plan to guide the process of outsourcing and retrieval after an agreed upon period of time.

The outsourcing strategy will provide guidance in terms of:

the period for which a provincial department can outsource the service;
the type of capacity and systems needed to take over the management of a provincial secure care programme;
The period needed to build this capacity; and
The process for retrieval of the programme from the service provider.

6. Implementation of blueprint

6.1 Implementation framework

Implementation Framework

The key deliverables of this blueprint are contained in the implementation framework. The framework includes high level strategies based on the priorities that have been identified in the development of the blueprint.

Priority Area 1 - Costing of the Blueprint
Priority Area 2 - Communicate the Blueprint
Priority Area 3 - A Strategy for the Blueprint
Priority Area 4 - Organisational Development
Priority Area 5 - Capacity building for the Blueprint
Priority Area 6 - Transformation of Reform School
Priority Area 7 - Outsourcing

These priorities need to be consulted on, accepted and refined. Once these strategies have been accepted, then the national plan can be developed. However, this programme is part of the Children’s Act 38/2005 and therefore must be aligned with the end result statements outlined in the Monitoring and Evaluation System that has been developed for the specific purpose of Evaluating the Act.

Once this is done, the provinces can develop their own provincial specific implementation plans.

However, whilst the same programmes take place at provincial level, there is no clear person responsible for this programme. There are coordinators for probation services, and as we have found out, are not responsible for co-ordinating the service at secure care facilities. This will have to be managed to ensure implementation of the blueprint.

Three critical issues that are key to the monitoring and evaluation process are that the activities are the responsibility of groups and of role-players. Therefore the responsibility and accountability is identified before implementation can take place. The activities then become the responsibility of the person who is accountable. The strategies and activities must form part of the individual’s operational plan, therefore it is their responsibility to identify these activities. This does allow one to measure value realisation of the project at any point in time. And lastly having a deliverable identified will allow the department to track the activities by the milestones and targets.

The Programme Manager must be appointed by the Department to oversee the implementation of the blueprint. She/he must develop a business case to be used for the measurement of value versus the blueprint versus the time frame. She/He will also be responsible for the co-ordination and integration of all role-players.

Project Managers are then appointed by their Principals in conjunction with the Programme Manager after consultation with the key owners of the processes.

Each province must identify the position that will take the responsibility to manage the implementation of the blueprint. They will be responsible for the implementation of their designated programmes in line with the project plan. They must be supported by their team members centres.

The Programme Manager together with the designated project managers will form the project team. Each of the project team members will be responsible for a deliverable or a set of deliverables.

It is imperative that the deliverable be incorporated into the individual performance plans and consolidated into the annual performance plan of the Department.

Reporting to the project team will take place on a monthly basis and on the Annual Performance plan, on a quarterly basis.

The co-ordinator will repeat the process at a provincial level and implement the project at that level following the same process outlined.

As this project was guided by the forum for Secure Care facilities, it is suggested that it become the steering committee and the reports be made to this committee.

7. Monitoring and evaluation

In order to monitor and evaluate the blueprint, a project management methodology is suggested. Project management is defined as “a complex effort to achieve a specific objective within a schedule and budget that typically cuts across organisational lines, is unique and is not normally repetitive”. (Cleland and King 1983)

Project management allows one to plan, organise, control and lead activities so that the project is completed successfully in spite of the difficulties and risks. Furthermore the discipline allows one to foresee and predict as many of the changes and problems in a project as possible. The blueprint needs such a discipline that allows one to track continuously. With the advent of technology, the tracking of projects and therefore the management of complex problems is made much easier. A project plan to monitor the implementation of the blue print will be developed as part of the finalization of this project.

8. Conclusion

The blueprint attempts to provide an important tool that can be utilised to guide the implementation of a comprehensive model for secure care in South Africa. There has been major improvement in the care and protection of children awaiting trial, and large amounts of resources have been made available for this purpose. The Department of Social development and its provincial counterparts have made the service more accessible to many more children.

Huge strides have been made since 2000, in transforming the service, but as a Country there are many areas that still need improvement. The accommodation in most cases cannot be faulted, the care in terms of meeting basic needs has improved. However, the actual provision of services is not in accordance to the ethos of service delivery, the principles and rights of children. Furthermore, the programme is currently not effective and efficient and geared towards the developmental needs of children awaiting trial.

The blueprint should be seen as the second phase of the transformation process. It clearly defines the concept of secure care in South Africa in order for all role-players to have the same understanding, as well as translate the mandate of the Department in terms of inter-national instruments, legislation and policy in a coherent manner. It outlines the fundamentals that need to be in place when a secure care programme is planned. The blueprint goes as far as putting down the dimensions for both the buildings and the site necessary for building of such a programme. It also puts forward the norms and standards that will monitor and evaluate service delivery much easier. It is therefore important to use this document as the basis for the further transformation, standardisation and improvement of services to children contained in secure care centres.

The challenge however lays in the implementation and will of the leadership to make the programme a success.

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