Tennyson House Project serves homeless children in and around the
city of Durban. Working with children, youth and their families
in areas of prevention and early intervention, the intention is
to hold families together.
Tennyson House Project serves in following ways-
The Street Team,
working independently yet in connection with other organisations
around Durban, works with the children living on the streets or
using the streets to beg for money to take home. The program’s intention
is to encourage these young people to return home.
The Residential
Team runs a short term, residential base program
for girls. Giving opportunity for personal development and intervention
with the family, this program is geared towards reunification. It
also provides after care for the girls once they return home.
The Community
Team, through the community drop-in-centres,
implement community based prevention programmes in communities where
children are at high risk of moving away from home and onto the
streets.
The Intensive
Intervention Program is to provide intensive
services to individual cases from the other programs. This is to
eliminate diversion of staff from the programs they serve and ensure
that all children receive the care they need and that proper services
are offered.
Street Based Outreach Programs
The street team aim to provide effective street based interventions
to children on the streets so that they return home or into a short
term residential based program. The program’s goal is to build trust
with these young people and encourage them in this move away from
the streets.
This process begins with locating the areas where children are present
on the streets and starting to build emotionally safe and trusted
relationships. They seek out these children and collect any relevant
information about the child so they can find the best way to help
them. While doing this, the staff also provide for the basic needs
of the children. Coordinating a sandwich and fruit program, taking
children to the clinic or hospital, providing a place for washing
of their clothes and themselves, and facilitating the acquisition
of birth certificates are just some of the services the staff provide
for the children.
The team also facilitates creative, developmental diversion programs
for the children on the streets. These programs include setting
up and training a soccer team, running creative arts and drama programs
that allow children to express their thoughts and ideas, running
life skills programs that enable children to develop skills and
reflect through their decision making and helping girls on the street
to participate in the Lifeline Life Skill program for child sex
workers.
Assisting children to return home is another important aspect of
the street team’s job. They conduct case conferencing with young
people and their families to work through complex issues in preparation
for reunification. They locate the family and assess the situation,
prepare the child for the return home by explaining the process,
mediate between the family and child, provide appropriate counselling
and support and agree between all parties on the terms of the placement.
Once the children have returned home the team provide aftercare
support. Monitoring the children with home visits and phone calls,
the street team are able to assess the ongoing needs of the families
and assist them with registering at schools, finding mentors from
within the community and linking them to other services until the
team decide the family can function without their help.
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Residential Care (Family Readiness
Program)
The Tennyson House residential program aims to provide a safe and
secure environment, which is child friendly, for girls in Durban
who are ready to make the move from the streets back home. The residential
team prepares girls and their families (or alternative families
in the case of unsuitable blood relatives) for reunification. They
assess and capture accurate information on all girls who are admitted
into their care and provide for basic needs of the girls (healthy
and culturally appropriate diet, basic medical care, provision of
bedding and clothing).
The team provide for the holistic development of the girls in care.
This is done in five areas-
Mentally-The girls are registered into school and supported in their
adjustment back into formal schooling. Regular meeting are held
with the teachers to check on the girls progress. Supportive homework
programs are provided, as are library visits.
Physically- Extra-mural activities, internally and externally, are
provided for physical health. Healthy hygiene programs, education
around physical development, puberty and sexuality and immunisations
are all provided for the girls as well as time being put aside for
girls to play.
Socially- The girls participate in a life orientation skills programs.
Group work is done around family reunification. They are given guidance
around sexuality and relationships, (in consultation and agreement
with the girls and their families, encourage responsible and relevant
sexual behaviour like abstinence, safe sex and the use of contraceptives)
The girls are encouraged to build relationships with people outside
of the shelter. Opportunities are created for girls to serve in
a way that they are giving back to someone else in need.
Spiritually- Participation in a local church is used to allow for
personal sharing of a faith journey with Jesus in a way that is
relevant and addresses their emotional and spiritual needs.
Emotionally- Counselling is provided, with referrals to outside
organisations if required for special counselling needs.
A routine is established so the girls can learn to manage in a
family environment. They are taught independent living skills that
equip girls when they are home in the community. Necessary documentation
is acquired for girls (birth certificates, ID documentation, foster
grants/child grants) when appropriate, with the involvement of the
family.
As soon as the girls enter the shelter the process of family reunification
is started. Families are located, their needs assessed and an agreement
is made around a plan for reunification. Home visits and phone calls
are planned for the girls so they can start to build a relationship
with their family again. Workshops are planned for the families
of the girls to provide counselling and transfer of parenting skills.
The residential team also identify support within the community
for the family. Once family and child feel confident and agree they
are ready to move forward, the placement of the child in the shelter
is terminated and the child is placed back home.
The residential team also provide aftercare, offering emotional
support the children and their families after reunification. This
after care is structured around an agreement between the YFC staff,
the family and the girl on what the support should look like. The
team make home visits and school visits to see how the child is
doing and locate any problems, identifying a teacher to help the
girl with any school work related issues. They also help the family
identify the closest clinic, facilitate parenting workshops, provide
HIV and AIDS education within the family, identify other children
in the household and assist the family to provide support and emotional
care to these children. Once there is no longer need for intervention
and the family has a wide support network around them, YFC terminates
its relationship with the family.
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Community Family Preservation Program
The community team aims to encourage family preservation so that
children in high risk communities do not run to the streets. They
maintain and develop relationships with community leadership structures
so that further services can be provided and advocate for the needs
of children and youth within the community. By initiating workshops
for community leaders, educating on child and youth development
and their needs, they advocate for childrens rights.
The community drop in centres create a safe space within the community
for children, youth and families to come to receive services (drop-in-centres).
The team coordinates programs to provide counselling and emotional
support to parents and children, material assistance where needed
(food, clothing etc), assistance to families to acquire documentation
and grants, sports and recreational activities, homework supervision,
life orientation program and spiritual development activities.
They also develop and nurture education and school relationships,
advocate at schools for children to be registered, educate families
on appropriate relationships to be maintained with schools, educate
teachers on the needs of these families and educate families around
the process to follow if they are unable to pay school fees.
To assess strengths and weaknesses in the families, the community
team make home visits to families. They offer counselling and emotional
support within the household and bring food parcels where appropriate,
aid in conflict resolution and meditate on behalf of the children
where there is a need for them to be cared for by extended family.
To help with the families health they also distribute literature
in homes around HIV and AIDS.
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Intensive Intervention Program
The aim of the intensive intervention program is to provide intensive
services to individual cases as they come up. This is done to help
eliminate diversion of staff in the programs that they serve, and
to ensure proper services are offered. Each program refers extremely
demanding cases to this program for thorough intervention services
to be offered.
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