1)   Individual Treatment Programme
Each child in residential care has a treatment programme based on his/her individual needs. Children are seen regularly by the Programme Director. Childcare workers in the group home will work with the children according to their treatment needs. Many children due to the severity of their problems may have to be referred to outside professionals for various therapies (e.g. play therapy), psychotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and so on. Many of our children have academic difficulties and require on-going tutoring. We are constantly monitored, assessed and under review and is changed when necessary, to meet the child’s needs.

2)   Family Programme
Parents are the most important people in the child’s life and it is therefore impossible to work with children isolation of their families. Our goal is to reunify children with their families as soon as possible. This requires on-going work with the children’s parents and/or families in the form of:-  Regular supportive councelling.

    -  Discussing and looking at problem areas as much as possible in decision making with regard to their children

       (where indicated).

    -  Crisis intervention/Management.

    -  Looking at visitation/access, etc.

    -  Seeing children and their families together on a regular basis to deal with problem issues, family functioning.

    -  Working towards going home, planning.

    -  In some cases, helping the parents financially, e.g. to purchase food for the children when they go home for weekends.

3)   Liaison with outside Professionals
Especially important is the liaison with the agency based social worker (in our case, Jewish Community Services) who also renders reunification services to the parents. Regular meetings are scheduled and Oranjia and the agency social worker may see a jointly if necessary. On-going liaison with other professionals occur (occupational therapists, psychologists, schools, etc).

4)   Psycho-education
This programme is run to meet the educational needs of our children and to act as a supplementary service to the input provided by the Schools. The services offered include remedial lessons, tutoring, educational assessments, life skills and study method skills.

In the past few years we have found that there is an increasing number of children who are unable to attend mainstream schools and alternatives have to be found for them.

5)   Religious
This programme addresses the spiritual, cultural needs of the residents. We try to develop an awareness of cultural heritage and full and active participation within the religious activities of the home and community. All children attend Shul regularly and Chaggim are celebrated. Children are encouraged to be members of the Jewish Youth Movements. Kashrut is strictly observed.

6)   Hosting Programme
Host parents are provided to certain children, especially in cases where residential stay is prolonged due to problems in reunifying the family.

The Programme Director is responsible for screening of potential host parents. The agency social worker will also become involved in this process if a particular family is accepted to host a child.

On-going contact with host parents occurs to help them deal with their host child and any problems that may occur.

In certain cases where host parents may become potential foster parents they are seen regularly to prepare them for foster care and the potential problems that may arise.

7)  Aftercare Services
When children leave Oranjia to return to their parents, Aftercare Services are provided are provided to the family for a minimum of six months. This requires:-

     -    Regular meetings with the family and child and the Programme Director. 

     -    On-going liaison with other professional.

     -    A childcare worker visiting the family in their home regularly to help them iron out problems and to be a support.
  
     -    Some children continue to come to Oranjia daily after school (Day Programme) even though they are living at home.

     -    Some families may require financial assistance.

Aftercare services are generally offered by Oranjia for 6 months, thereafter services are taken over by the community agency.

In certain cases where children and their families need intensive daily aftercare services, we will render these services until they are 18 or finished school.

Aftercare services are extremely important in that they prevent the child’s placement with his/her family breaking down which would precipitate a return to Oranjia.

FUTURE PLANS: DAYCARE

In 2006, Oranjia started a Daycare programme aimed at children/youth who had never been in residential care, but had been identified as children “at risk.” This preventative programme was identified as a need in the community and is in line with South African Child and Youth Care Practice. Children come to Oranjia after school, returning to their parents in the evening. In 2006, six children attended the daycare programme at our residential unit. In 2009 we have one child on this programme. Unfortunately our residential numbers have increased and we are no longer able to accommodate more daycare children in our residential unit. We are however looking at the feasibility of starting a separate daycare facility.