Professionalisation, The South African Professional Board for child and youth care work and the way forward

The first South African Professional Board for child and youth care work was inaugurated in 2004 and met in 2005. It worked through its five year term of office. This  however was interrupted by an effective one  year when it could not meet officially as a result of it being suspended by the South African Council to await the outcome of a dispute it had on the issue of the Council's view that  child and youth care workers at the so called "professional level" would not be registered at the same time as the 'auxiliary level' workers but phased in over an unstipulated period of time. The Professional Board refused to be associated with this concept.

So the first Board had an effective 4 year period of office. In this time it wrote and approved regulations for the registration of child and youth care workers at both levels which as a result of considerable backwards and forwarding as well as legal advice reached its 16th or 17th draft before the Council submitted a  proposal to the Minister and the dispute kicked in officially. It also had written the required 'Principles and Guidelines for Policy for the Code of Ethics for Child and Youth Care Workers'.

Its term of Office expired and the election of child and youth care workers/practitioners to the second Professional Board took place in late 2011. It was inaugurated by the Deputy Minister in March of 2013.

In the interregnum, the Department of Social Development established and recognised an 'Interim Committee for Child and Youth Care Work'  (ICCYCW) . This 'interim committee' completed what was called the final regulations for the registration of child and youth care workers at both the auxiliary and the professional levels. It also approved the final 'Principles and Guidelines for the Code of Ethics for child and youth care workers. The Ethical Code and the rules of Conduct... all in a form that awaited the Minister's approval and would then be ready for publishing in a government gazette. The Departmental lawyer said at the time that this was all that was needed procedurally and that child and youth care workers on the ministers approval of the documents were positioned to be regulated and so to be registered as professionals.

 The second Professional Board for child and youth care workers was inaugurated on the 11th March 2013.after a delay of over one year from the date of the election results.

It met informally after the inauguration to get to know each other and to roughly sketch the the present position in the work already done and what the Board was likely to have yet to do.

 There seemed to be some common agreement that the final regulations, the Principles and Guidelines for the Code of Ethics, the Code of Ethics and the Rules of Conduct were best served before the new Board and therefor the present Council for approval and forwarding again to the Minister.

It was also agreed that no time should be permitted to be wasted in the completion of this process.

 2013 is still the year of the child and youth care worker.. the movement toward  professionalisation and recognition is still a movement of all the child and youth care workers  and not just the Board.

Together, 2013 must be made to work as the year of the child and youth care worker in South Africa.