The removal of children from their families and their placement in children’s homes is regulated by the Child Care Act, 1987. In terms of the Act, where a social worker believes a child to be in need of care, an application must be lodged with the Children’s Court. A provisional court order directing that the child be removed is issued with a return day. The child is then removed from the family and placed in a suitable place of safety, children’s homes or where appropriate, with a foster family. On the return day the Court determines whether the child is in need of care. If the Court should find that the child is in need of care, then he/she can be placed with a foster family or a children’s home. This Order may not be for a period exceeding two years and the placement is therefore reviewed and (if necessary) extended every two years until the child either returns home or turns eighteen.

The thinking behind the Act is that a child should ideally be in his/her own family. The Act (and the regulations to the Act) promote the objective of family reunification, i.e. returning the child to his/her family. In order to achieve this objective, family reunification services must be rendered. And it is in this field that Oranjia excels. More will be said about these services hereunder.

When a child is placed, there are two entities usually involved; the referring social work agency and the children’s home to which the child is referred (i.e. Oranjia). It is the function of the referring social work agency to exhaust all avenues before resorting to referral of the child to a children’s home. Other avenues include foster care and undertaking preventative work with the family. In other words, the child is only referred to Oranjia as a last resort.   This is sound practice since a children’s home is, at the end of the day, to a greater or lesser extend and institution and children prefer being in their family environment. Oddly enough, this is even true of children who come from very dysfunctional families.