Caring for foster children living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in Johannesburg, South Africa: Social workers’ perspectives

This paper discusses the services provided by social workers in foster care placements to children living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The qualitative findings presented in this study were derived from a study conducted with social workers and community caregivers using a mixed method approach (quantitative and qualitative). This study concentrates only on the qualitative data from 14 social workers who were purposefully selected from the Department of Social Development in the City of Johannesburg. In-depth one-on-one interviews were conducted, using a semi-structured interview schedule. The study was conceptualised through Ubuntu Social Work, Welfare and Development Theory. The findings showed that social workers were providing limited services, as they focused mainly on ensuring that the court orders were up to date. On average, supervision of placements took place only once or twice a year. The failure of social workers to provide timely supervision, psychosocial support and to link these children to care was linked to a lack of HIV training, poor communication among the Department of Social Development directorate, high numbers of cases, lack of community profiles and social workers treating children living with HIV the same as other children living without HIV. This paper recommends training social workers in HIV services, incorporating HIV content into the social work curriculum, and standardising the use of community profiling to strengthen services for foster children living with HIV.