The Co-Existence of the Social Work and Child and Youth Care Professions

Two social service professions in South Africa have faced major challenges in the past decade or more. Members of the social work and (emerging) child and youth care professions have gone through struggles for recognition in South Africa and while both are necessary, it has been difficult to find acknowledgement of their respective differentiating areas of expertise. During her conference presentation on this topic, the author found that not all social work practitioners are aware of the emergent profession of child and youth care or its implication for social work. The purpose of this article is to shed some light on the matter from the perspective of the author who is a social worker by training and the course developer for a degree intended to meet the requirement for the formal tertiary training of future child and youth care workers. Her field experience has always involved work with children and youth and her dual exposure puts her in a position to view claims made by both professions. The authors opinions in this article is by no means presented as the representative view of either professions, it is merely an attempt to start a discussion about what is being observed from literature and conferences and to point to some practical implications the current status quo may have on social services in South Africa.

Keywords: child and youth care profession, social work specialization, exit level outcomes, historical development, international definition, collaborative practice, knowledge base, responsibility to students