January/February 2008

Contents

Download January/February 2008 Journal

• Editorial - Merle Allsopp
• Kululeka, grief support for children and youth
• Conquer Criticism and Sustain Hope - Barrington Makunga
• Coping with Night Shift - Lesiba Molepo
• Activities
• What is happening to the skills development levy funds in South Africa? - Sandra Oosthuizen
• A Quick Guide to the Children's Act no38 of 2005 and the Children's Amendment Bill - Paula Proudlock and Lucy Jamieson
• Personality Profile - Cleo Maphumalo
• Do nothing, nothing changes - Dr Thom Garfat
• Financial Control and Accountability - Janet Shapiro
• On courage and committment stories from isibindi projects - Sindiswe Maimela
• Statement: AIS HIV estimates confirm HIV/AIDS still has a leading cause of death - Media Statement from the International AIDS Society
• Media Strategies for NGO Sustainability - Frank Julie
• The FETC: Moving faster than snail's pace - Kathy Scott
• Dear Doctor - Dr Michelle Meiring
• Spotlight on Students - Jackie Winfield

Editorial: The next quarter century

by Merle Allsopp

Child and Youth Care Work goes into its twenty-sixth year of publication this year! When I mentioned this to NACCW graphic designer Randy Williams who does all the art work for the journal, she said "Jikes - that's longer than I I've been alive!

Those of us who have been in the child and youth care field for a quarter of a century or more will remember our first issues...two or three black and white A4 pages folded in half! I think two hundred or so were printed a couple of times a year. This issue is 36 A4 pages long, with a full colour cover! It will reach almost 3000 people - many who live in rural South Africa, practicing child and youth care work with some of our country's most vulnerable children and families, others who work in residential care facilities, and still others who live on the northern continents.

If you are a regular reader of Child and Youth Care Work you will notice the increased length of this issue. At the end of last year the Editorial Board and the NACCW National Executive Committee took a decision to reduce the number of issues being produced, and increase the length of the publication. This decision will be welcomed by those readers who have indicated that they sometimes felt that the journal could be a little more substantial a read! Likewise those who feel they cannot keep up with a once-a-month read will be satisfied to have six issues a year to get through. But there will be those who will miss a monthly 'fix', and to these colleagues, all involved in the production of the journal send sincere apologies.

The increased journal length will allow for the inclusion of at least one longer article in every issue. It will also allow for the publication of more scholarly articles from time to time - a very important consideration as the field child and youth care work professionalises.

But the character of Child and Youth Care Work will otherwise remain essentially the same. That means that we will continue to:

• Provide articles on all matters that link to child and youth care work, from practice to programs to policy.
• Support the generation of indigenous knowledge in our field, by publishing as much South African material as possible.
• Foster and support South African child and youth care workers who are new to writing for publication.
• Be sure that there is 'something for everyone' in the journal, understanding that there are always readers who have been in the field for a few months - as well as those who remember the early editions of this journal!

On behalf of the Editorial Board, and the NACCW NEC, I extend thanks to the regular contributors to this publication. And of course, I extend thanks to our readers. A hallmark of a profession is that it continuously develops its knowledge base - through articulation of ideas and exchange of information. Child and Youth Care Work looks forward to continuing to facilitate the development of South African child and youth care knowledge - over the next quarter century!