Children’s Bill

1. Children’s Bill Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Children’s Grants Department of Social Development 9/2/2005

2. Constitutional Issues • Welfare:concurrent function • Social Security/Social Assistance: national competency

3. Law Commission initiative superceded by time and events Social security no longer a concurrent function Report on comprehensive social security Cabinet review of comprehensive social security Extension of the CSG to children age 14 years Child Care Legislation

4. Child Support Grant

5. Care Dependacy and Foster Child Grant

6. Child Grant Foster and court ordered kinship care grant Informal kinship care grant Adoption grant. Subsidies for ECDS Emergency Court grant Supplementary special needs grant Grant for assistive devices Fees for NGO’s Subsidies for NGO’s Proposed Grants

7. Child Support Grant meets the requirement. Must be increased to children between 15- 18 years. Could be done progressively.Policy in place.Will require cabinet approval. Issues should it be confined to poor children-means tested- or be universal.Fiscal constraints will support means test. Universal grant could compromise poor children. A Child Grant-Universal

8. No new policy shifts. Eligibility criteria expanded to include kinship previously excluded. Only requirement for grant is court order. No impact on present grant. May impact court processes. Informal kinship grant.Not sure why preference should be given to informal kinship over caregivers in CSG. Should preferably retain CSG in these circumstances. Foster Child Grant

9. Understand the rational. Why should adoptive parents be given preference over natural parents. Can qualify for CSG. If amount is pitched at FCG amount,could be fiscally constraining. Adoption should be an issue of choice rather than incentivised. Could address this issue by standardising all grants for children based on cost of basic needs. Adoption Grant

10. Children with mild to severe disabilities. Chronic illnesses. Supplemented with other grants. Given to parents and caregivers. Special Needs Grant

11. A child or family that experiences distress as outlined in section 345 can qualify for social relief of distress which can be awarded for a period of 6 months as opposed to 3 as proposed. Furthermore the whole family can qualify for assistance instead of only just the child. Emergency Court Grant

12. A child grant is proposed for a child headed households. The children in a CHH are eligible for the CSG,FCG and or the CDG. It is the head of household who is often a young person that is excluded. It is recommended that over and above the child grants, young people be assisted temporary with Social Relief of Distress to prevent double payments. Child Headed Households

13. It is a Depart. Of Health service. There must be a memorandum of understanding with Health on this issue. To use grants to cross subsidise health services will not be appropriate. Assistive Devices

14. Current Status Proposed Recommendations. All grants must be means tested. Means Test

15. Fees and Subsidies • It is a welfare issue and not a social security issue because the service rendered will be a welfare one.