The nature of relationships between orphans and their kinship carers in B otswana

Child & Family Social Work

2018

Traditionally, Ghanaian families facing difficulties address their problems by engaging kin, with the State being the last point of call. However, in recent times, more families facing difficulties are contacting social services to seek redress. So what contribution are kin and other informal social support networks providing to the care and safety of children of such families? This paper presents findings from 15 families receiving services from the Department of Social Welfare in Sekondi, Ghana. Through semistructured in‐depth interviews, the families shared their views on the roles played by their kin and informal social networks in contributing to the care of their children. The study findings suggest that kin still plays a vital role in the support of parenting through imbibing of norms and values; whereas the provision of casual support is provided by nonkin in one's social support network on the basis of reciprocity. Therefore, it was concluded that in developing social welfare policies to ensure better outcomes for children in Ghana attention also has to be placed on the supportive role of the community for families in danger of disruption as there is likely to be limited familial safety net for support in child care.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Is kinship failing? Views on informal support by families in contact with social services in Ghana

Manful

Child & Family Social Work

2018

“…The situation compounds when the caregivers had their own biological children to look after. There is pressure on caregivers when they are expected to provide equal care and attention to children in their care and their biological children, especially in the face of the limited financial resources (Malinga‐Musamba, 2015).…”

Section: Discussion Of Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While institutional care may be considered the last resort, the involvement of extended family members and close friends in providing care and protection for children is a considerable alternative for children in Ghana and most parts of sub-Sahara Africa (Ariyo et al., 2018; Malinga‐Musamba, 2015). For instance, Deininger et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some children in kinship care in Ghana have expressed satisfaction with care because they got what they needed, attended school, and felt comfortable living with their caregivers (Kuyini et al., 2009). However, financial constraints have been a significant barrier to ensuring the well-being of most children in kinship care in sub-Saharan Africa (Malinga‐Musamba, 2015; Maundeni & Malinga-Musamba, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Experiences of Children in Kinship Care (CKC) in Ghana

Journal of Family Issues

Abdullah

Chiu

2020

The provision of care by extended family members and close friends is a common cultural practice in Ghanaian traditional communities. With a recent interest by stakeholders in Ghana to consider kinship care as an alternative care option in child welfare policy, this study explores current kinship care challenges to help identify and address potential setbacks for policy and practice recommendations. In-depth interviews were conducted with 22 young adults with experience as Children in Kinship Care (CKC). The participants with CKC experience reported inadequate basic needs, educational neglect, and lack of adequate emotional attachment as the major difficulties experienced by children in kinship care. The study revealed that challenges faced by CKC in Ghana mostly come from the limited financial and emotional resources of caregivers. For policy recommendations, common cultural practices like CKC should be adequately examined with clear guidelines on how to promote the welfare of children and young people.

“…Social workers are not involved in the decision‐making process. In addition to commonly known factors like the risk of abuse and neglect, other factors including opportunities for children to attend better schools in the cities, provision of support with household chores or encouraging relationship building between younger children in the family, influence the decision to move children into the care of kin (Ariyo, Mortelmans, & Wouters, 2019; Malinga‐Musamba, 2015; Maundeni & Malinga‐Musamba, 2013; Olusanya & Hodes, 2000). Although children in kinship care in Ghana may have negative experiences like inadequate parental attention and emotional bonding (Kuyini, Alhassan, Tollerud, Weld, & Haruna, 2009), children appear to experience more positives (Abdullah, Cudjoe, & Manful, 2020; Cudjoe, Abdullah, & Chiu, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regulating the traditional kinship care practice in Ghana: Reflections from young people with kinship care experience

Abdullah

Young

et al. 2021

Child

Background Kinship care has become a favourable alternative care option for orphans and vulnerable children without adequate parental care in Ghana. However, kinship care practices in Ghana are considered informal cultural practices without formal regulations. The absence of formal regulations could have consequences on the health and development of children due to the lack of proper supervision and empirical assessment of children's needs. In line with recent policy discussions on mechanisms to regulate informal kinship care practices, this study aimed to identify how the State could be involved in improving kinship care experience for children. Methods Qualitative in‐depth interviews were conducted with 22 young persons (aged 18–23) who had been received into kinship care to share their experiences on how the State could be involved in improving kinship care experience for children. Narratives from the young people were analysed following the constructivist grounded theory approach. Results Introduction of a welfare scheme for kinship caregivers, policy on child care, provision of start‐up capital and training for caregivers, were measures suggested by the young people to improve kinship care practice. Providing start‐up capital to kinship caregivers was identified to mitigate caregivers' unemployment challenges, which could have ripple effects on the well‐being of children by escalating caregiver stress. Conclusion The study's findings suggest that the State has a significant role to ensure that caregivers are equipped with the needed resources to provide adequate care for children. Regulating kinship care practices should embrace a strength‐based empowerment model that builds on the capacity of the caregivers to ensure better outcomes for children. Studies that explore the views of policy makers and caregivers in a larger sample may yield promising results to complement the current findings.