INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD CARE IN URBAN SOUTH AFRICA

the background that the children are coming from. Traumatic experiences often
require 5Cees to initiate therapeutic interventions. In spite of this, many of the
children are culturally and socially encouraged to repress negative emotions and
experiences.
• Kinship networks and extended family care continue to be important after a
child’s placement in 5Cees, and this is often a collaborative effort. 5Cees is not
technically classified as a children’s home. That would require them to take full
custody of the children, rather than the partial custody that puts more extended
family members at ease.
• 5Cees places an increased value on role models and mentorships as children get
older.
• At middle childhood, the center places a strong emphasis on education, ensuring
that each of the children receives an optimized experience and school selection.
• The arrival of adulthood in South Africa isn’t uniformly signaled by a numerical
age, and the desire for systems to use this as a benchmark often complicates the
transition of children at 5Cees.
• Opportunities for a successful adulthood mostly surround finding the finances for
a four year education or discovering an internship program connected to a career
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