| (1) | A provincial department of social development or a designated child protection organisation managing or operating a cluster foster care scheme must, in respect of schemes under its management or operation— |
| (a) | keep proper financial records of all social assistance and other monies received for the provision of social services for the support of the foster children placed in such scheme by a children's court; and |
| (b) | operate or be managed according to a written plan or agreement containing details— |
| (i) | of the financial management, the programmes and services to be delivered in terms of that plan or agreement; |
| (ii) | about the system of assessment of children placed in cluster foster care and their placement with active members of the scheme who are to be assigned responsibility for them; |
| (iii) | how disputes concerning the management, operation or day to day functioning of the scheme are to be resolved, and how decisions are to be taken regarding transfer of children between, or placement with, active member in a cluster foster care scheme assigned responsibility for foster children; |
| (iv) | )on the management of the behaviour of children in cluster foster care, and must include a prohibition of any form of violence, child abuse, neglect and exploitation, physical punishment, humiliating or degrading forms of discipline of such children; |
| (v) | relating to mechanism by which foster children in a cluster foster care scheme can report any complaint regarding violence, child abuse, neglect and exploitation; and |
| (vi) | database of all the active members who are part of the cluster foster care scheme. |
[Regulation 69(1) substituted by section 13 of the Amendment Regulations Regarding Children, 2024, Notice No. R. 4993, GG50870, dated 26 June 2024 - effective 1 July 2024]
| (2) | An organisation contemplated in sub-regulation (1) must submit to the provincial head of social development an annual report containing— |
| (a) | an annual financial report of income received and expenditure incurred; |
| (b) | a report on the number of children and duration of each child placed in cluster foster care over the annual period; |
| (c) | a report on the number of children allocated per active member of an organisation contemplated in section 183(1)(a) of the Act; |
| (d) | a report on the number of active members of the organisation providing foster care to whom responsibility for the foster care of the children in the scheme have been assigned; |
| (e) | the number of active members per physical address and details concerning any transfer of children between active members; |
| (f) | details of child protection services rendered and in respect of which children in the cluster foster care scheme these services have been rendered; |
| (g) | details concerning the delivery of programmes or support to children in cluster foster care or to active members of the organisation providing foster care to whom responsibility for the foster care of the children in the scheme have been assigned; |
| (h) | any detail concerning the provision of services to meet the needs of children with special needs; |
| (i) | the extent to which the rights of children in cluster foster care have been met; and |
| (j) | achievements and challenges. |
| (3) | An organisation contemplated in sub-regulation (1) must ensure that clearance certificates, to the effect that the names of any active members providing foster care to children in the scheme do not appear in Part B of the Register or the National Register for Sex Offenders, issued by the Director-General and the Director-General of Justice and Constitutional Development, respectively. |
| (4) | An organisation contemplated in sub-regulation (1) must have— |
| (a) | in its employ at least one person registered as a social worker with the Council for Social Services Professions for every 50 children served by the cluster foster care scheme or schemes that it manages or operates; or |
| (b) | entered into a formal agreement with a designated child protection organisation to provide the required social work services. |
| (5) | An organisation contemplated in sub-regulation (1) must ensure that the transfer of children between foster parents who are active members of that organisation is carried out in accordance with the procedure determined in section 171 of the Act. |
