'Children need care, not cages', call for end to prison-style youth care centres

WESTERN Cape Child and Youth Care Centres (CYCCs), that accommodate more than 600 vulnerable youth should move away from prison-style accommodation for children.

- CHEVON BOOYSEN [e-mail]

The infrastructure should adopt a more child-centred design to offer therapeutic benefit and reflect a foundational ethos of care, healing, and rehabilitation, which will support the psychosocial well-being and reintegration of children into society.

This comes as part of the recommendations made by the Western Cape Commissioner for Children (WCCC), who conducted monitoring visits to all nine CYCCs in the province between July and August 2024, following a baseline study in 2023 on alternative care.

The Department of Social Development currently manages seven of the secure care facilities in the Western Cape, which ensure the appropriate physical, behavioural, and emotional containment of young people who are in conflict with the law, charged with crimes, and who are awaiting trial or sentenced.

The CYCCs, where approximately 624 children in need of care and protection are situated, are located at Bonnytoun, Clanwilliam, Horizon, Lindelani, Outeniqua, Vredelus, Kensington Treatment Centre, Kraaifontein ROAR, and Sivuyile.