INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD CARE IN URBAN SOUTH AFRICA

CHAPTER VIII
THE NON-NEGOTIABLE COMMITMENTS OF A CHILD CARE
INSTITUTION
The past few chapters of this study this have explored the challenges and
complexities that are a part of caring for children at the care center. There are questions
of how to navigate the tension of adhering to legal protocol and dealing with practical
challenges, like whether or not to be classified as a children’s home. There are questions
of how to balance children’s education and structure while still allowing them
unstructured time for play and creativity. There are questions about when the aging out
process should begin and how to balance support and guidance with the nurturing of
independence. Almost all these questions surround sensitive and delicate issues,
including psychological wellbeing, safety, and education.
There are a variety of approaches that could be taken towards the intake of children,
the provision of childcare throughout their childhood, and their eventual emancipation
into adulthood. Despite controversy surrounding responses to many of these issues, the
need among children in South Africa is too severe to wait for philosophies to be debated
into resolution. Instead, 5Cees and its leadership is faced with an urgency to commit to
principles when it comes to caring for the children who live there that it can adhere to in
spite of complexities or debates. These “non-negotiables” reflected the elements of the
center’s work that were the most internally valued, and as the center sought to improve its
functioning, it focused on this core. In contrast to the previous chapters which explored
tensions and questions with no obvious answers, this chapter will focus on the practical:
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