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Foster Care Grant Reinstated with CCJ’s Help

2012/03/12 12:43:36 PM

In November 2011 CCJ helped a foster parent to claim a grant of R28,000 which had been withheld for three years.

The case was referred to Fisani Ngcobo of Plessislaer Support Centre (right) in August 2011 by a local ward councillor. Grants for two children had been cancelled by the Department of Social Development in 2008 after a social worker complained that their foster parent, a family friend, was abusing the grant by using most of the money for herself. The oldest foster child then contacted her ward councillor, who referred the case to Fisani.

Fisani contacted the Social Development office in charge of court orders, and personally visited the official in order to explain the case and ask that the oldest sibling, now 21, receive the grant as the foster parent. As a result, in November 2011 the grant was reinstated, and a backlog of R28,480 was also paid to her for one of her siblings. Fisani is still working on claiming the backlog for the second child.