Call for child-friendly secure care facilities

CURRENT infrastructure at Child and Youth Care Centres (CYCCs) in the Western Cape which accommodate more than 600 vulnerable youth - should be reconsidered and should move away from correctional-style infrastructure and adopt a more child-centred design.

- CHEVON BOOYSEN

The change in approach to infrastructure could 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), which 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.