CARE
AND SUPPORT FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE AFFECTED AND INFECTED BY HIV/AIDS CARE
AND SUPPORT FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE AFFECTED AND INFECTED BY HIV/AIDS
Lets build a caring society together
AIDS HELPLINE
0800 012 322
HIV/AIDS is spreading very fast in this country. We therefore need to work together to stop it from spreading and to care and support those who are infected and affected. This pamphlet is aimed at helping you to gain knowledge about services that are available and how you can help yourself and others in the fight against HIV/AIDS
CARE AND SUPPORT SERVICES
The following services are provided by social welfare services agencies in communities
Identification of families and children who are in need
Provision of food, clothing, shelter, social grants and referral to health services
services especially prior to the death of the family member and after
Child protection from abuse and neglect
Day care services for children
Support to NGOs and CBOs who provide welfare services
Alternative care for vulnerable children, preferably in the community for example foster care
Information to increase accessibility to grants and other financial support services.
Social grants such as foster care grants, disability grants for terminally ill adults, child support grants for children under seven years, care dependency grant
Community mobilisation
Training the trainers in their community.
Community education about the effects and the impact of HIV/AIDS in the community, including how to reduce stigma and discrimination.
Poverty alleviation projects.
How to become involved in prevention, care and support
Don’t discriminate
Educate yourself and your family about HIV/AIDS
Talk about HIV/AIDS with friends, family, colleagues, people at church, your children etc.
To know about whether you have HIV or not go for voluntary counselling and testing at your nearest health care facility.
Be Faithful, abstain or use condoms.
Get involved in HIV/AIDS related community initiatives for eg home community based care and support programme, by dedicating part of your time to these initiatives.
Give support to people especially children who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and help them to access services
Report orphans and vulnerable children known to you to social welfare agencies/offices
Contribute to the general well-being and social development of your community.
Join peer education programmes to control the spread of HIV/AIDS in your community
In order to educate yourself and your family go to your nearest clinic or social welfare office.
How to live positively with HIV
Be positive about life and believe in yourself.
Take care of your health - ensure that you eat nutritious food, exercise, rest and take your medication regularly.
Seek medical assistance for advice and treatment for ailments
Talk to someone you trust. Seek professional help - go for counselling
§ Don’t feel you have to rush into coping and telling people.
Your spouse/partner should know about your HIV status.
Join a support group in your community or workplace or form a support group if none exists.
If you feel angry, neglected, fearful - talk about your feelings, ask for help from a professional.
Practice safe sex
Disability grants are available if you are too sick to work.
Where to go?
Contact your nearest clinic and social welfare office. or Call AIDS Helpline at 0800 012 322 See back of this booklet for addresses.
How to prepare for your children if you are HIV-positive
Start by talking
Tell your children about your illness
Write a memory book (include photographs, poems, stories, memoirs etc.), in addition, tell stories about your life and family.
Encourage your children to ask you questions
Talk to someone you trust if you get worried that you or your child /children are not coping especially from stigma and discrimination.
Alternative care
Arrange alternative care for your children - that is - who is going to look after your children in the event of severe illness and death.
Ensure that your children are familiar with the prospective foster parents and they are in constant contact with the people.
Choose carefully taking into consideration your children’s needs and aspiration.
In cases where children cannot be placed with relatives or foster parents, they should be placed in a residential care.
In certain instances where children choose or are forced to remain in their homes, these children are called child-headed households.
Appoint a guardian
Write a will - a document that makes it clear what a person wishes to happen after their death.
A will ensures that property, land, money are passed on to the right people
Make it clear who has custody of children, and if there is no partner, appoint guardians.
To be valid, a will must be written in permanent ink or typed, signed and clearly dated and written when the person is of sound mind and is not forced to do so by someone else.
Child-headed households
If you live in a child-headed household or you know of a child headed household
you should contact your nearest social welfare services to be provided with
information on how to access child support grant, foster care grant and
immediate food relief.
Care and support services to orphaned and vulnerable children
Foster care
Foster care is the care of a child of another parent. The child can be a relative or a stranger to you. The child is placed in your care by the Children’s Court. A social worker needs to write a report to the Commissioner of Child Welfare. A foster care grant is payable in other for you to look after the child.
Adoption
When you adopt a child, the child becomes yours as though born of you. Any child under 18 years can be adopted. A child is adopted in terms of Child Care Act and a social worker must write a report to the commissioner of child welfare.
Residential Care
Residential care is care of children in children’s home. A children’s home is a place which can accommodate more than six children and must be registered with the Department of Social Development.
Types of financial assistance available for the care of children
Grants:
A child support grant is paid to a primary caregiver, who is a person whether or not related to the child, who takes primary responsibility for meeting daily care/needs of the child. The primary caregivers must not receive any remuneration for taking care of the child. The grant is being paid to a maximum of 6 children from birth to 7 years.
A care dependency grant maybe paid to a child between the ages of 1 and 18 who requires and receives permanent home care due to his sever mental or physical disability . the combined annual income of the applicant and his/her spouse after permissible deductions must not exceed R48 000 and the income of the care dependent child must exceed twice annual amount of a care dependency grant
The child and his/her parent(s) must be a resident in South Africa and must be a South African citizen
A foster care grant is being paid in respect of a child who was found in need of the by the Commisioner of the Children’s Court and was placed in the care of another person other than a biological parent
The primacy caregiver and the child must be a resident in South Africa and must be a South African citizen.
Documents needed to apply for grants
The bar code identity document of the parent/ caregiver/foster parent.
The child’s ID or birth certificate with the child’s identity number.
Proof of income.
Court order in case of foster child.
Medical report from a medical officer employed by conditions in case of a care dependency grant.
Proof of school attendance.
AIDS HELPLINE
0800 012 322
National Office
Dept of Social Development
(PHYSICAL ADDRESS)
HSRC BUILDING
134 PRETORIUS STREET
Private Bag X901, Pretoria, 0001
(012) 312 500
PROVINCIAL HIV/AIDS CO-ORDINATORS
Eastern Cape 040 639 2774 (f)
Free State (051) 409 0651 (051) 409 0648
Gauteng (011) 355 7926 (011) 355 7969 (011) 355 7925
Kwazulu-Natal (035)874 3823 (035)874 3710
Mpumalanga (013)755 4076 (013)755 3544
North West (018)387 5123 (018)387 5273
Northern Cape (053)871 1021 (053)8334847
Northern Province (015)291 4868
Western Cape (021) 461 1276