Open access peer-reviewed chapter
Abstract
The chapter examines the effectiveness of foster care arrangements for unaccompanied migrant children in Zimbabwe, with a specific focus on children in foster care in Dulibadzimu, Beitbridge. Through a qualitative research approach and an interpretive paradigm, the chapter highlights the formal and informal foster care arrangements for unaccompanied and separated migrant children that are existing as a place of safety, temporal home, community care, and as well an alternative shelter for the border town between Zimbabwe and South Africa. Furthermore, the chapter highlights the successes and possible challenges in dealing with this vulnerable group that is a product of economic migration between the two countries.
Keywords
- children
- foster care
- migrant children
- unaccompanied
- Zimbabwe
1. Introduction
The phenomenon of unaccompanied and separated migrant children is global, alarming, and escalating. Children on the move are widely confronted with multiple vulnerabilities and nations across the globe have a legal duty to provide social support and care. According to the UNHCR [1], 89, 3 million people around the world have been forced from their homes, and among these, 27, 1 million are refugees with over half of them being unaccompanied and separated children under the age of 18. Additionally, in 2019 there were also millions of children across the globe living outside their nuclear family environment [2].
In relation to Zimbabwe, the prevailing unfavorable socioeconomic circumstances have further made migration of children across national borders a serious challenge. In this regard, it was noted that Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) in Zimbabwe have constituted a large number of children on the move [3]. The case with Beitbridge involves an increasing number of migrant children without company and living outside the family environment. And such children are confronted with multiple vulnerabilities such as sexual and economic exploitation, and trafficking, so their situation requires special attention.
The escalating vulnerabilities for separated children without company raise questions on the effectiveness of the relevant alternative care option which suits their scenarios. This yawning gap in social protection demands an appreciation from social workers and all practitioners in the helping professions. In order to have a better appreciation of foster care, it is necessary to have an exploration of the effectiveness of foster care in the protection of unaccompanied and separated migrant children. The provision of care and support to OVCs has long been a global mandate also for Zimbabwe and therefore are high expectations that such children should be looked after within a family environment and foster care exists as the more recommended care priority option under the six tier system. And also, the international United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children stand strongly on the placement of children without company into foster care.
In line with the preambles of the UNCRC and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), the constitution in Zimbabwe echoes that children should grow up in a family environment. It is the responsibility of the state to make sure that such entitlements are fulfilled and Zimbabwe has a long history of providing care and support to such children under a cherished tradition of Ubuntu. The strong tradition regards a child as everyone’s child although such children belong to their nuclear families. The common adage such as “it takes the whole village to raise a child”, presents the strong commitment of Zimbabwean villages to providing care and support to OVCs under various community structures. Foster care, therefore, stands as the predominant form of care in Africa and also in Zimbabwe, however much of such arrangements were informal.
Zimbabwe is confronted with the challenge of separated children without company in migration. These children are prone to facing unprecedented challenges in the face of the migration process. In particular, Beitbridge as a border district town has also received a large number of children transiting through the border. In relation to children on the move, according to International Organization for Migration (IOM) [4], foster care, or family-based care, is widely regarded as the best form of care for unaccompanied migrant children, as fewer children go missing from foster care compared to reception centers or institutions. Additionally, in relation to fostering vulnerable child migrants, IOM [4] notes that it is imperative to consider their special vulnerabilities and needs that are based on their triple characteristics of being children, being in migration, and without company of adults who know them well (their family or legal guardians).
2. The circumstances of unaccompanied and separated migrant children in Beitbridge
The context of Beitbridge, being a border town makes it ideal for fostering services to shelter children who are separated through migration between Zimbabwe and South Africa whilst family tracings and reunifications will be awaited. Beitbridge is also a receiving district of unaccompanied minors coming up from high-sending districts such as Chipinge, Chimanimani, Chiredzi, Gwanda Bulawayo, and Mutasa. Apart from the above, the district is widely known for attractive commercial activities, the illicit activities include rampant smuggling of contraband such as cigarettes and alcohol to South Africa and the importation of groceries, building materials, and many other supplies into Zimbabwe [5]. Such activities also attract high volumes of children looking for working opportunities. Concurrently the unfolding activities also make Beitbridge a risky place for children as it is highly characterized by high rates of prostitution, crime rates, and drug and substance abuse [3]. Additionally, IOM [5] noted both regular and irregular cross-border movements between Zimbabwe and South Africa for employment, trade, and commerce, seeking health services, family reunions, or illicit activities, which include trafficking in persons, smuggling of goods, and other illicit activities.
It is also imperative to state that Beitbridge is a major transit route for migrants from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who pass through Zambia or Mozambique and then Zimbabwe with the destination intention of South Africa. According to IOM [5], some migrants move from the Horn of Africa, including Ethiopia, Somalia, and Tanzania, moving from Zambia or Malawi and passing through the same Beitbridge district in Zimbabwe. It was estimated that 30–40% of the travelers traveling to South Africa, traverse through this route and hence it is estimated that nearly 6000 travelers use this route on a peak day when the Beitbridge border post is fully operational [5]. The nature of Beitbridge being both a transit, receiving, and destination district for unaccompanied and separated minors makes it a town of migrant children who have attempted to cross the border and failed and also for those who have been deported from South Africa. Such children are found stranded, and resultantly find shelter in foster care centers. This makes it more of an area of focus in relation to child protection and therefore, justifies the importance of foster care arrangements for unaccompanied and separated migrated children.
3. Fostering services and legislation
Fostering unaccompanied and separated migrant children is both a legal and moral responsibility. It is an essential form of alternative care option for OVCs across the globe. The UNCRC and the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children stand strongly on the placement of children without company into foster care homes. In line with the preambles of the UNCRC and the ACRWC, the constitution in Zimbabwe places a premium on children to grow up in a family environment [6]. In such scenarios, the foster care option is the recommended immediate safety net for children with unclear immediate family status.
In this regard, Zimbabwe’s Orphan Care policy (1999), introduced a six-tier system and considers foster care as a fourth priority in the protection of children outside the family environment, with biological family being the first priority followed by extended family then community care, foster care, adoption and institutionalization as the sixth option and a last resort which should be avoided. These environments should be given consideration in their priority order. Despite the significant investments and efforts for years to increase the demand and promote foster care as an ideal form of alternative care, it is associated with low uptake and institutionalization has maintained a grip over foster care for over 20 years after the adoption of the six-tier system in 1999. The study agrees with the definition of the six-tier system as defined by the National Orphan Care policy (1999). The six-tier care environments should be adopted in their priority order, with the first being the best and the sixth being the last resort and to be avoided.
4. Theoretical framework: fostering and children in need assessment framework
The Children in Need Assessment Framework is an established systematic approach to the process of gathering information about children who may be in need and their families [7]. The assessment framework captures the three main pillars such as family and environmental factors, parental capacity, and children’s developmental needs. The needs are looked at as interrelated parts that depend on each other and are critically essential for child development [7]. This framework was developed from the functionalist theory which regards the family as an equally essential system. This framework recognizes that individual needs are unique and therefore interventions should be individually tailored rather than having a universal care plan for OVCs. And also vulnerabilities varies across different age group and circumstance, and also much of them stretch through adult life. Sabates-Wheeler [8], rightly argued that vulnerabilities facing children differ from those of adults and there are child-specific vulnerabilities derived from asymmetrical power relations and inequalities in relation to resources, responsibilities, opportunities, voice, rights, and constraints. In the same view, these scholars further indicated that there are child-intensified vulnerabilities, which refer to vulnerabilities that may affect whole populations, such as migration, famine, or undernutrition, but have effects that are more damaging for children than adults.
In relation to the fostering of unaccompanied and separated migrant children, this model gives a view of how foster care arrangements effectively respond to the safeguarding and protection needs of these children. This assessment model is also essential to social work professionals working with families to inform their decision-making and foster parents in identifying the individual needs of each child. According to Turney et al. [7], studies indicate that good assessment is grounded in a thorough understanding of the child and family’s situation, needs, and strengths, and to gain this knowledge, practitioners need to work directly with the child and their family. However, it needs to be supported by appropriate practice and research-based knowledge and tools to support practice [7]. The authors further state that keeping the child or young person ‘in view’ is fundamental to good assessment, and failure to do so can have severe consequences, as analyses of serious case reviews have consistently demonstrated. This provides essential guidelines in identifying the effectiveness of foster care in the protection of these children such that the effectiveness can be judged in relation to this framework.
Using this Children in Need Assessment Framework in the case of Beitbridge is likely to highlight multiple vulnerabilities that these children are likely to encounter. These may include among others, sexual and economic exploitation, and trafficking. Such proceeding circumstances have posed serious problems and exacerbated risky situations for such minors. The escalating vulnerabilities for these children question the effectiveness of the relevant alternative care option which suits their scenarios. This yawning gap in social protection demands appreciation from social workers. In order to have a better appreciation of foster care, it is necessary to have an exploration of the foster care arrangements in Beitbridge and appreciate their effectiveness in safeguarding and protecting this vulnerable group of children.
5. Methodology
In an endeavor to examine the effectiveness of foster care arrangements for unaccompanied children in the Beitbridge District of Zimbabwe, a qualitative research approach and an interpretivist paradigm were adopted. In this study, an in-depth interview guide and a Focus group discussion guide, and a semi-structured Key informant interview guide were used. The adopted research approach and paradigm gave the researchers the freedom to conveniently establish the sample size which they could effectively handle in the context of constrained time and financial resources. The researchers were convinced that 6 Focus group discussions with children, 25 participants for in-depth interviews with foster care parents and caregivers that were purposively drawn from various foster care homes, and 6 key informants would constitute a significant population for the study. Key informants for this study were members of the District Child Protection Committee that were drawn from the Department of Social Welfare (Renamed Department of Social Development) Child Protection Society, Family Support Trust, International Committee of the Red Cross, International Organization for Migration, and the Immigration department.
6. Results
This section of the chapter presents the research findings and the discussion thereof. These are centered on the foster care arrangements in Beitbridge, services available for unaccompanied and separated migrant children under foster and the effectiveness of foster care in the protection of unaccompanied and separated migrant children.
6.1 Foster care arrangements in Beitbridge
This study had a specific objective of identifying foster care arrangements for unaccompanied migrant children in Dulibadzimu, Beitbridge. This study noted that there are formal and informal foster care arrangements for unaccompanied and separated migrant children in Beitbridge. Some of the foster care arrangements are formal and recognized by the Department of Social Development (DSD) while others are informal and unrecognized.
6.1.1 Informal foster care
The study established that there are informal foster care arrangements for unaccompanied and separated migrant children in Beitbridge. In this type of foster community care, DSD is the main actor involved in the placement of child under foster care. Informal foster care identified in this study included kinship and community care whereby migrant children identified without an immediate family status are looked after by relatives, churchmates, and local community leaders traced and identified in Beitbridge, whilst waiting for a permanent solution. The findings capture informal foster care as also pre-stage to formal foster care, as such formal care initially starts as informal arrangements of foster care. In the process, most of the foster parents indicated that they registered after they felt the joy of bonding and blending with migrant children as theirs. From the findings, the cases of unaccompanied and separated children have involved children placed in foster care after attempting to cross the border and failed. One of the foster care parents from the in-depth interviews said,
The arrangement identified also involved unaccompanied and separated migrant children being looked after by community volunteers such as Community Case Care workers, local leaders such as councilors, and also Church leaders. The arrangements are widely popular as foster care in Dulibadzimu. One of the caregivers from the in-depth interviews said,
This indicated that migrant children before placement under foster care were identified whilst stranded and roaming on the streets. In addition, many of the children under informal foster care were registered as having biological families in South Africa and untraceable relatives in Zimbabwe. This indicates that children from unstable families are at risk of separation from caregivers and migrate unaccompanied across the national border. The vulnerabilities to which unaccompanied and separated migrant children are exposed motivate the community volunteers to take such children and look after them. This was also echoed by one of the in-depth interview participants, who said,
From the extract, it can be noted that the motivation behind fostering unaccompanied and separated migrant children in informal care is rooted in some values of love, peace, and caring, in a society in which some caregivers have a positive desire for the betterment of children’s lives. Another caregiver from the in-depth interviews confirmed that,
The findings indicate that some caregivers are also motivated towards fostering non-relatives children as long they share some cultural values and language. Venda people prefer fostering a child speaking Venda, the same also applies to Shona and Ndebele people in Beitbridge. The issue of totem and religious beliefs are also behind the motivation to foster unaccompanied and separated children. Additionally, the study further noted that the nature of Beitbridge being a multi-cultural and also multi-lingual border town makes it a resource for fostering migrant children as they emerge from diverse cultural backgrounds with different languages. The town comprised people speaking different languages such as Venda, Shona, Ndebele, English,
Migrant children placed under informal foster care arrangements also experience love and care from unregistered caregivers. The findings noted that some children have lost bonding connection with their biological parents abroad and tend to develop strong bonds and healthy relationships with their foster caregivers such that they feel that they prefer staying with caregivers their entire life. One of the children that participated in the focus group discussions reported that,
Apart from the above, the findings also indicated that some children under informal foster care are subjected to unsafe environments and risky situations such as forced labor. Children raised issues such as forced labor, sexual exploitation, and emotional and physical abuse. This was also echoed by a key informant from DSD, “cases of females minors sexually abused under foster care have been reported and also the informal foster care arrangement are at most not known and undocumented by DSD. This suggests that informal foster care arrangements in Beitbridge also expose children to risky situations and unsafe environments characterized by multiple forms of abuse despite being a resource to shelter unaccompanied and separated migrant children.
6.1.2 Formal foster care
The study findings also show that formal foster care is widely recognized by law and less adopted by the community. It is mostly considered an option after family tracings would have failed or in cases whereby the child is unwilling to be reunified with extended family or under community care. The findings from this study also noted that in Dulibadzimu, Beitbridge, formal foster care is a legal duty for social workers under the Department of Social Development and it is also a specific process with seven main stages. The first stage involves the identification and assessment of unaccompanied migrant child in need of foster care by a social worker, the child can be identified inside border area, or in South Africa by the immigration department or police and then referred to DSD for further assistance. Secondly, the child is placed in a place of safety at Beitbridge reception center (popularly known as IOM Centre) where they are not supposed to stay for more than 7 days without a court order. The third stage then involves the identification of a registered foster parent, a parent can be identified from the DSD register of foster care parents. Afterward assessments of foster the parent will follow as the next stage, looking at the suitability of the environment to the needs of the child. And then they will be an application of court order for placement of a child under foster care, prepared by a social worker writing to the high court. They will be an implementation of a court order through the placement of the child under foster care, this placement comes with an expiry date but can be extended in the event that it expired without a permanent in place. And finally case follow-ups by social work and they should be at least three within a year period.
In the study, it was also noted that the assessments in formal foster care capture critical issues relating to safeguarding and protection of the child such as the needs of the child and also parental capacity of the foster parent. It also captures the child’s developmental needs and capacity to adapt to the environment. This is in agreement with the Children in Need Theoretical Framework which also informed this study that, assessments should look at three main factors such as domains of the children’s developmental needs, parenting capacity, and family and environmental factors.
Children under formal foster care are largely known, and recognized by DSD. One of the in-depth interview participants said,
This was echoed by another interviewee who said that
The findings also show that Foster parents received training and support from the government and partners, in order for them to provide quality care to migrant children. The forms of support they received targeted foster parents and also children there are fostering, this included home visits, foster care packages, and access to free health and education services. In this regard, one in-depth interview participant reported that,
Such arrangements identified are in line with the provisions in the country’s Children’s Act [Chapter 5:06] [9], which states that foster parents should be selected, qualified, approved, and supervised for providing such care. However, one of the foster parents indicated that the training content does not equip them with relevant knowledge of how they should respond to multiple challenges faced in fostering unaccompanied and separated migrant children such as administering corporal punishment and discipline to the child. This was also echoed by all the key informants indicating that such training often does not cover critical issues on how to administer corporal punishment for such children.
6.2 Findings on circumstances of unaccompanied and separated migrant children under foster care
The findings of the study show that children in informal foster and formal foster require special attention. Participants in this study expressed that children under informal foster care were reported to be more vulnerable than children in formal foster care arrangements. In addition, the circumstances of unaccompanied and separated migrant children living under both types of foster care are not similar, as children under informal foster care were reported to be a high chance of illegal adoption, sexual exploitation, and forced labor. Whilst children under formal foster care are reported to be under better circumstances as their living arrangements are closely monitored by state agencies and partners. In contrast, it was also noted that children under informal foster care have funny and friendlier relationships with their caregivers as compared to children under formal care where many of the participants from the in-depth interviews expressed that
6.3 Services available for unaccompanied and separated migrant children in foster
The study noted there are specific services available to unaccompanied and separated migrant Children under foster care such as psychosocial support, mental health support, foster care packages, free educational and free health service.
6.3.1 Foster care settling packages
The findings from the study noted that foster care settling packages are part of the once-off package available for children being placed and the package consists of $75 USD, which caters to hygiene and dignity kits for the child. One in-depth interview participant said,
It was also noted that the foster care settling packages were reported to be essential in supporting the reintegration of unaccompanied and separated migrant children into the community. In relation to the number of foster parents accessing such packages, the findings noted 60% of the foster care parents indicated that they have not yet received the packages but they just heard about them. The other 40% of the foster parents who received the packages raised complaints that such packages are given only once off packages and cannot effectively respond to the basic needs of children alone, but rather they will be a need to complement such services. The majority of the participant confirmed that foster care settling packages complement the effort of foster families in looking after fostered children.
6.3.2 Free educational support
The findings also show that children under foster care lose many years of schooling whilst in migration. From this study, it was noted that children who have dropped out of school constitute a large number of children under foster care with a total of six children enrolled in primary schools and then three secondary-going children. The foster care arrangement for unaccompanied and separated migrant children under foster care allows such children to be enrolled back in school. There are educational support services to support in circumstances where the foster parent cannot afford school fees. From these services the findings noted that such children are entitled to free education which covers school fees and uniforms through Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) and public assistance programs, it was indicated that children under foster care are a first priority to such services. One of the in-depth interviewees reported that “
6.3.3 Free health services
From interviews with foster parents, it was noted that children under foster care are entitled to free health services through Assisted Medical Treatment Orders (AMTO). One of the foster care parents in the in-depth interviews said, “
The extracts indicate that foster families also depend on free services provided by the government to access health. On the other side, foster parents also highlighted accessing health services is a challenge for unaccompanied and separated migrant children under foster care as AMTO was said not to cover the essential medication and pills, at most the medication that can be accessed through AMTO is often unavailable in local clinics.
The findings also show that some foster families have the financial capacity to afford health services for unaccompanied and separated migrant children under foster care. From this study, it was also noted that there are foster families which afford health bills for children under foster care at their own cost. One of the interviewees said, “
The findings therefore suggest that foster homes have different capacities and offer different quality of life to children depending on the household income, some households depend on public assistance whilst some can sustain within their means to look after the child under foster care. This feeds well with what was noted by Chibwana [6] that, some foster families procure private medical facilities therefore they would not need the AMTOs it is well within their means to take care of the health needs of the fostered child. Henceforth foster care’s responses to basic child protection needs vary from household to household, some families can afford to provide for the child whilst some families depends on public assistance.
6.3.4 Public assistance
The study further noted that families fostering children also have a first priority in public programs and also the Drought Relief Programmes (DRP). Such provisions were identified as complimentary as fostering unaccompanied and separated migrant children is still a voluntary act than a well-paid activity. In support of this one of the in-depth interviews, participants said, “
From the findings, it can be noted that nutritional provision comes from both foster care households and also government and its partners. The quality of nutrition in foster homes varies from household to household depending on the household’s capabilities. The findings of 80% of the children indicated that they do not access balanced nutrition whilst under foster care and at most they eat twice a day, whilst the other 20% indicated that they access food at any given time under foster care. The nutritional support provided does not fully suit children, particularly those under the age of 10 who demands special meals such as porridge and other supplementary meals recommended for children.
6.4 Foster care arrangements for unaccompanied children from the Children in Need Assessment Framework’s lens
At the heart of the triple focused Children in Need Assessment Framework’s principles of family and environmental factors, parental capacity and children’s developmental needs is the safeguarding and promotion of the child’s welfare. The framework provides a holistic and interrelated view of the parts that are critical to a child’s development. In relation to the study at hand, this framework was of critical relevance in bringing out what exactly to focus on when exploring these foster care arrangements for unaccompanied and migrant children’s welfare needs.
It is imperative to highlight that the framework promotes the use of relationships with other assessment processes and tools in the assessment of the child’s needs. In this regard, the study relied on various sources to obtain a clear understanding of the inter-relationship between a child’s needs, parents’ capacities, and the impact of family and environmental factors according to the United Kingdom’s Department of Health [10]. For the purposes of this study, information was sourced from foster parents, caregivers as well as key informants that also included key government departments like the DSD.
In line with this framework, the dire need situation of these children has been made clear. The various forms of care that children are exposed to are likely to affect them either positively or negatively. The study’s findings show that there are two common forms of care in Beitbridge and these are informal and formal care systems. Within the context of the Children in Need Assessment Framework, the informal care system is likely to expose children’s various developmental needs, parental capacity as well as family and environmental factors.
Furthermore, the framework provides the linkages between the child welfare providers. In this regard, there are collaborative efforts between the foster care homes and the DSD (Public Assistance program), Ministry of Health (providing AMTOs), Ministry of Education (BEAM program), and other private organizations that are committed to the provision of child welfare services. However, the findings point to the shortage of resources and failure to attend to special needs like for those below the age of 10 years. There is therefore a need to broaden the levels of collaboration in order to cater to all the children’s needs.
The study is therefore of great significance in highlighting the multidimensional needs for children’s development. It is, therefore, critical for the Zimbabwean government to address the emergency of informal care systems for unaccompanied and migrant children in Beitbridge and all other districts with the same challenges. In addition, the study also highlights the inadequacy of services provided to these children. It is therefore imperative for the country to ensure the provision of all the basic needs that contribute to a child’s holistic development in collaboration with all critical stakeholders in the child welfare sector.
7. Conclusion
In summation, there are formal and informal foster care arrangements for unaccompanied and separated migrant children. The arrangement in Beitbridge involved children placed under foster care as a temporal arrangement whilst waiting for family tracing outside Beitbridge and in some scenarios involved children being fostered by extended families, local leaders, and churchmates. From the arrangement, it was established that foster parents prefer to foster children with whom they share similar totem, church, and languages. This is well in line with existing literature that, most of the urbanites who foster children are not bound by the traditional beliefs which are inhibitive to the concept of foster care [6]. Foster care arrangements differ extensively in the quality of care they offer to children. The foster care arrangements depend on government-sponsored services and also on their own resources to look after the children there are fostering. From the services it was noted that foster families that depend on state provisions are compromised on the quality of care they offer to unaccompanied and separated migrant children, whilst foster families that depend on their own provide better quality care to fostered children. The study also finds out that services around foster care arrangements are fragmented, less coordinated, and undocumented, this tends to make foster care unaccountable and compromise the quality of care for children in foster care.
Acknowledgments
The researchers would like to express their heartfelt acknowledgments to the Ministry of Social Development in the Beitbridge District, all the child welfare organizations, and the individual participants that volunteered to participate in this study.
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