The protection of children in street situations is a key policy issue that is mostly spearheaded by governments, the non-profit sector, private sector and religious organisations. Children in street situations are a vulnerable population. In South Africa, projects and programs to protect children in need of care and protection emanate from the Department of Social Development (DSD) which is one of the leading government agencies with responsibilities over children in need of care and protection in the country. Though problems experienced by children in street situations have been widely studied, there exists limited research which explores how these children as juridical subjects are targets of specific public policies and social programmes designed purposely for them. This paper situates and analyses the socio-legal and policy contexts for the social protection of children in street situations in South Africa and the role played by the Department of Social Development as the main government entity responsible for vulnerable children. The study adopted a qualitative approach where data was collected through face to face and telephone interviews with social workers who work with children in street situations in Pretoria. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. The study findings reveal that children in street situations in South Africa fall under a broad category of children in need of care and protection. The children are not viewed as a distinct group, hence, there are no targeted interventions specifically for them as existing interventions are universal for all vulnerable children in South Africa. Thus, social policy for children in need of care and protection should be implemented to target specific groups of children within the broader category of children in need of care and protection in the country.
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