8 Khomas social workers drown under patients
Eight social workers, with the assistance of four senior staff, are responsible for handling at least 2 933 cases a month in the Khomas Region.
JEMIMA BEUKES
A petition highlighting the dire working conditions of social workers, written by a group of social workers in the Khomas Region to the ministry of gender equality and child welfare, has fallen on deaf ears.
They claim that the government has also failed dismally to adhere to the provisions of the Child Care and Protection Act, enacted five years ago, which calls for an expansion of the existing structure.
“This was proposed in March and April 2020; however, social workers continue to be overworked with limited resources despite this provision.
“Due to the narrow structure, the best interests of children and families continue to be compromised,” the petition read.
The Act provides for appointment and designation of social workers, social auxiliary workers, community childcare workers and probation officers, and for private social workers and child protection organisations for certain purposes.
Overburdened
On a monthly basis the Khomas Region social workers are dealing with an average of 442 custody and access disputes, including backlog cases.
In one month, they also handle an average of 376 cases for individual or family psychosocial support and 555 backlog cases in his regard.
Gender-based violence incidents average 254 cases per month, while they have an average of 278 gender-based violence cases they have to deal with.
They also claimed to be facing constant threats of warrants of arrests because of outstanding court reports and are repeatedly humiliated by the court system.
According to the social workers, the eight existing social workers with the assistance of four senior staff are responsible for at least 2 933 cases on a monthly basis.
In the petition, social workers pleaded with the ministry to increase the number of social workers serving approximately 342 141 people in the Khomas Region from eight to 40.
The social workers also begged for a N$250 monthly airtime allowance as the telephone at the Women and Child Abuse Centre remains out of order.
The social workers continue to sacrifice their personal time, cellphones and airtime to try to get work done.
These issues have contributed to compassion fatigue, burnout and frequent sick leave which consequently leads to a high staff turnover in the region, they said.
The social workers also called upon the ministry to operationalise the children’s shelter and to provide more places of safety of vulnerable children as provided for in the Child Protection Act of 2015.
Response
When contacted for comment, executive director of the gender ministry, Ester Lusepani, said she could not respond since the had not received the petition from the social workers and instead received it from the media.
“But we have discussed those issues already in several meetings and they know the answer,” she said.
A petition highlighting the dire working conditions of social workers, written by a group of social workers in the Khomas Region to the ministry of gender equality and child welfare, has fallen on deaf ears.
They claim that the government has also failed dismally to adhere to the provisions of the Child Care and Protection Act, enacted five years ago, which calls for an expansion of the existing structure.
“This was proposed in March and April 2020; however, social workers continue to be overworked with limited resources despite this provision.
“Due to the narrow structure, the best interests of children and families continue to be compromised,” the petition read.
The Act provides for appointment and designation of social workers, social auxiliary workers, community childcare workers and probation officers, and for private social workers and child protection organisations for certain purposes.
Overburdened
On a monthly basis the Khomas Region social workers are dealing with an average of 442 custody and access disputes, including backlog cases.
In one month, they also handle an average of 376 cases for individual or family psychosocial support and 555 backlog cases in his regard.
Gender-based violence incidents average 254 cases per month, while they have an average of 278 gender-based violence cases they have to deal with.
They also claimed to be facing constant threats of warrants of arrests because of outstanding court reports and are repeatedly humiliated by the court system.
According to the social workers, the eight existing social workers with the assistance of four senior staff are responsible for at least 2 933 cases on a monthly basis.
In the petition, social workers pleaded with the ministry to increase the number of social workers serving approximately 342 141 people in the Khomas Region from eight to 40.
The social workers also begged for a N$250 monthly airtime allowance as the telephone at the Women and Child Abuse Centre remains out of order.
The social workers continue to sacrifice their personal time, cellphones and airtime to try to get work done.
These issues have contributed to compassion fatigue, burnout and frequent sick leave which consequently leads to a high staff turnover in the region, they said.
The social workers also called upon the ministry to operationalise the children’s shelter and to provide more places of safety of vulnerable children as provided for in the Child Protection Act of 2015.
Response
When contacted for comment, executive director of the gender ministry, Ester Lusepani, said she could not respond since the had not received the petition from the social workers and instead received it from the media.
“But we have discussed those issues already in several meetings and they know the answer,” she said.
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