COVID-19 and Alternative Care in South Africa: Children’s Responses to the Pandemic. A Case Study from a Child and Youth Care Centre in Mogale City

Abstract

The experiences from a case study are evaluated against the aspects such as emergency response to vulnerable populations and other sources from the literature to serve as guidelines for the management of an epidemic in a child and youth care centre (CYCC). To help understand the effects of the epidemic on the centre, this article describes experiences in terms of the meeting of needs. A discussion of the following are part of the article: • A reflection will be provided on the observed stages the children and child and youth care workers (CYCWs) went through during 177 days of a national lockdown; • Indications of caregiver burnout; • Experiences around the meeting of children’s needs through the lens of child and youth care (CYC) theory; and • Proposed areas needing attention in mitigating risks. Some lessons learnt from the daily routine established to manage the lockdown regulations, sometimes experienced as nonsensical, are shared. From these reflections, questions for research are provided from a practice-based evidence approach, mainly aimed at determining the readiness of a CYCC to manage a state of disaster, while needing to focus on meeting children’s needs.

Vulnerability and Agency in the Time of COVID-19: The Narratives of Child and Youth Care Workers in South Africa

“…These individuals’ work extends to spaces where young people live and learn to promote childhood development through daily planned activities [ 11 ]. The CYCW are responsible for nurturing effective relationships with children and youth as they interact with them every day [ 6 ]. Moreover, CYCW works with parents/caregivers and families to negotiate a viable social environment for children and youth that are regarded as vulnerable.…”

“…In the aftermath of this first COVID-19 case, the country’s Department of Health (DoH) began to report an exponential increase in the number of identified positive cases, with significant household and community-level transmission. In response to the rapid increase in reported cases, the South African government, under the leadership of its president, Cyril Ramaphosa, declared a state of disaster under which a national lockdown was instituted [ 6 ]. The lockdown saw the suspension of all so-called non-essential activities, including a ban on local and international travel, the closure of educational institutions, and the introduction of curfews.…”