Research 

The Children's Act came into full operation on 1 April 2010 and obliges the provincial MECs for social development to provide and fund a range of social services for children. These services include early childhood development centres and programmes, drop-in centres, prevention and early intervention and protection services for vulnerable children, foster care, adoption, and child and youth care centres. This paper analyses the sub-programmes within the social development budgets that cover the majority of Children's Act related services. We look at the three sub-programmes that most closely match the services listed in the Children's Act, namely child care and protection, HIV/AIDS, and family care and support. Child and youth care centres, adoption and foster care services, protection services, some prevention services, partial care and early childhood development programmes all fall into the child care and protection sub-programme. Home- and community-based care and other orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) support projects fall under the HIV/AIDS sub-programme, while the family care and support sub-programme appears to include family counselling services but should be including the full range of prevention programmes listed in the Children's Act. We also look at crime prevention and support separately as this sub-programme contains some funding for the Children's Act but also includes funding for adult services. The Children's Act services that fall under this subprogramme are diversion, probation officer assessments and secure care centres. 

Paper