This chapter examines an external evaluation of deinstitutionalization efforts in Gauteng Province, South Africa, focusing on the transition of children from residential care to family and community-based settings. It highlights how the evaluation served not only as an accountability mechanism but also as a catalyst for policy learning, institutional change, and broader care systems reform.

This qualitative study examines social workers’ perspectives on how effective role fulfilment among social workers, foster parents, and foster children contributes to positive foster care placements and child well-being. It identifies structural barriers such as high caseloads, workforce shortages, and unclear roles, and recommends an Africentric supervision and monitoring framework to strengthen accountability and role clarity within the foster care system.

This study examines the lived experiences of 20 adults in Botswana who experienced exploitation as children after being placed in informal foster care and becoming malata. It highlights how poverty, family instability, limited agency, and weak protection mechanisms enabled domestic, agricultural, and other forms of exploitation, resulting in long-term educational, health, and socioeconomic consequences.

This study examines the critical role of Social Auxiliary Workers (SAWs) in supporting and protecting children awaiting foster care placement within under-resourced, community-based settings in South Africa. It explores the services they provide, their collaboration with other actors, and the challenges they face, addressing a key research gap to inform stronger child protection policy and practice.

This article highlights the launch of the House of Grace Child and Youth Care Centre in Grabouw, South Africa, a specialized residential facility designed to support young children with disabilities who are in need of care and protection.

This large-scale study across eight African countries finds that the Parenting for Lifelong Health programme is associated with significant reductions in physical and emotional abuse, improved parenting practices, and better mental health outcomes for both caregivers and adolescents. It demonstrates that evidence-based parenting interventions can be effectively delivered at scale—even in humanitarian contexts—while maintaining strong positive impacts.

This webinar, co-hosted by the Transforming Children's Care collaborative and Hope and Homes for Children, dove into the ground-level realities of system strengthening across three diverse national contexts: South Africa, Rwanda, and Bulgaria. Country experts shared the critical bottlenecks they encountered, the strategies that worked, the course corrections required, and the evidence of impact for children and families.

This article examines the challenges of family reunification for children in alternative care in South Africa, identifying factors related to parents and children that can make reunification unfeasible. It argues that while reunification is a key right, it must be balanced with child safety, emphasizing the need for stronger permanency planning for children who cannot return home.

This review examines interventions for orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa, identifying a wide range of approaches but highlighting uneven coverage, limited evidence on effectiveness, and challenges such as insufficient funding and government support. It concludes that more sustainable impact requires integrated interventions that first address basic needs and then support children’s psychological and developmental well-being.

This paper explores the experiences of informal caregivers in South Africa supporting youth with intellectual disabilities and/or autism as they transition from residential care to adulthood. It finds that caregivers play a vital role but face significant challenges, including inadequate transition planning, limited aftercare services, and insufficient formal support.