Abstract
Globally, regionally, nationally and locally, foster care placement remains a practice that is mired in controversy and complexity, specifically with regards to its implication upon the total wellbeing of the child and the effectiveness of such placement in meeting the best interest of the child. South Africa is regarded as the leading nation with the premier dominance of children in need of care and protection in Southern Africa and is regarded as a guru in championing and promoting child custody within foster care placements. Accordingly, this paper through a systematic review of literature pitted the perfidy and panacea of foster care against the best interest of the child in South Africa. The paper also recommends the child welfare system to contemplate promoting and advising immediate families to take the responsibility of caring and protecting those children in need of care and protection. Likewise, the paper also indorses the need to support and monitor the functioning of non-relative foster care placements so that they adhere to the requirements on the best interest of the child. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n14p554
Highlights
Nationally and locally, cluster-foster care placement has been receiving wide debates and discourses with regards to its implication upon the total wellbeing of the child and its effectiveness in meeting the best interest of the child (Moos and Mwaba, 2007).This issue is very worrying across South Africa with its high rate of children in need of care and protection and where foster care placements have been entrusted to provide an ideal source of custody for these vulnerable children (Moos and Mwaba, 2007; Gebel 1996)
The Convention on the Rights of the Child interpolates the best interests of a child as of high primacy in any decision that affects the child especially when comes to child care and protection (United Nations Conventions on the rights of children (UNCRC), 1989; Organization of African Unity (OAU), 1990)
The non-relative cluster foster care placements are being challenged here since this is a scarce aspect within the realm of such placements as a result, this form of child custody is deemed to be an antagonist to the best interest of the child
Summary
Non-relative cluster foster care placements have increasingly been facing a barrage of discontentment and disapproval with regards to its ability to meet the best interest of the child. The duty of any society is to offer care and protection to vulnerable children while still upholding the notion of the best interest of those children This applies to foster care placements which is at the apex of child custody in South Africa. Empirical evidence denotes that non-relative cluster foster care placements in South Africa are lacking the ethical and moral fibre to fulfil the conditions of the best interest of the child. They attract an exploration and scrutiny to validate such allegations and suspicion. A need exists to pit foster care placements against the inventory factors that define the best interest of the child within the South African context
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