Experiences Of Children Regarding The Care Received At Windhoek Residential Child Care Facilities

ABSTRACT

It is the fundamental right of a child to grow in a safe, nurturing, consistent care-giving environment, free from maltreatment such as physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect and inadequate physical care. Unfortunately, many children are deprived of parental care due to various circumstances and continuously seek care and protection. One of the solutions to the lack of provision of care to children in need is to place such a child in a Residential Child Care Facility. However, Residential Child Care Facilities are not always the best solution, as designated caregivers and staff do not always consider the emotional and developmental needs of children entrusted to them. This undermines the quality of childcare in these facilities.

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the children’s experiences regarding the care received at the Residential Child Care Facilities (RCCFs) in Windhoek. For this study, a qualitative, explorative, descriptive, and contextual design was used. The target population was all children living in Windhoek-registered RCCFs. The sample comprised 30 children who could understand and speak English, aged 15 to 18 years, from the three purposefully selected registered RCCFs located in Windhoek. Research ethics related to dealing with children, such as autonomy, anonymity, beneficence, confidentiality, justice, sensitivity to specific needs, participation and protection, were adhered to.

The situational analysis revealed both negative and positive experiences of care in RCCFs as discussed in themes. Relationships with their caregivers and the rest of the staff in the facilities were identified as the first theme and description of

relationships was identified into different sub-themes of mutual respect, good communication, love, support and care.

Another sub-theme under this theme is the participation in decision making in their everyday lives, either as positive or negative experiences such as being uncomfortable, lonely and sad. The second theme was the provision of their basic needs and the sub-themes were described as education, material (food, clothing and shelter), health and protection. The third theme was cultural identity with sub-themes described as knowing their family background, mother tongue and religion. The last theme identified was uncertainty of their future as they were not prepared to leave the care and they voiced bad experiences of children who previously left the care because they were not able to cope with the outside world.

This study recommends that a conducive environment that contributes to the quality of care for children in Residential Child Care Facilities be established, taking into consideration human resources capacity, policy guidelines and standards in place while providing care to those children.