FAQ
Is Arise a Children's Home?
No. Arise works to support vulnerable children and has working agreements with various children’s homes in order to provide hosting and fostering services to children in need.
Is Arise an Adoption Agency?
No. Arise advocates adoption as a core value for the church, but we are not an adoption agency. In order to provide prospective adoptive parents with information regarding adoption, Arise has compiled a booklet detailing the various adoption agencies. The purpose of this booklet is to provide prospective adoptive parents with a list of adoption agencies in Cape Town. Information about the services each agency provides, their criteria for adoptive parents and their contact information is provided. While Arise endeavours to provide accurate information regarding each agency, we would like to recommend that prospective adoptive parents contact the agencies themselves should they have any further queries about a particular adoption agency.
What is hosting?
A commitment to the regular hosting of the same child in your home (e.g. once a month) for a minimum of one year. As a ministry dedicated to caring for children we seek to encourage and facilitate people to offer the optimum care to a child that they can; therefore, where possible, we wish to promote longer term ‘Host Parenting’ whereby an adult will develop a positive on-going relationship with a child, as opposed to one-off interactions with different children.
How can I foster a child?
Within the realms of foster care, Arise aims to serve the Church in addressing the need of vulnerable children. Arise aims to find foster parents for children who are already placed within children’s homes and is therefore has networked with children’s homes that have children requiring foster parents. See the foster care section for more details.
Can I adopt a child through Arise?
No. Arise is not an Adoption Agency, we have produced a detailed booklet that can be downloaded which provides information about various adoption agencies. Click here to download the Arise Booklet - Directory of Adoption Agencies in Cape Town.
Is Arise a counselling centre?
Arise is a Christian NGO which seeks to serve the church in its response to vulnerable children and families, and to serve children and families directly within Heideveld.
Arise has a Family Centre, situated in Heideveld. Arise has a number of ‘sub-teams’ which provide a multi-faceted, multidisciplinary, holistic service to the community of Heideveld including kids’ clubs, holiday clubs, homework support and youth groups; one facet of this provision is therapeutic support.
The Interventions Team, comprised of two social workers, an educational psychologist and a clinical psychologist, provide a range of therapeutic support to the local community. This includes parenting support, play therapy, group therapy, support groups for foster carers and adoptive parents, individual psychological therapy and family therapy. Individuals or families can drop-in to discuss concerns and referrals also come from the local schools and Athlone Child Welfare.
How can I give?
Arise has a local and UK bank account for financial contributions, click here for our banking details. Arise also has a fundraising page on givengain which details specific projects that require funds. Go to the Arise givengain cause via the website at http://arise.givengain.org to find out more.
Does Arise have fundraising events?
Arise currently has two local fundraising events in March and August which serve to raise our profile in Heideveld as well as raise funds for specific projects throughout the year. Arise is not funded by one specific church and relies upon the generosity of individual supporters .
What is the difference between foster care and adoption?
Adoption is a forever family for a child, legally this is a permanent placement. Not all children in need of care are eligible for adoption and therefore may require foster care (a temporary placement), which is reviewed every 2 years. The main difference between foster care and adoption, is that foster care is not a permanent placement. The aim of foster care is to reunify children with their biological families where possible. When this is not possible, foster care can be a placement up to 18 years.
I cannot have my own biological children, isn’t foster care an easier (and cheaper process) than adoption?
Adoption can be a costly process, but most agencies offer sliding scale services or payment options. Finances should never be the sole reason to prevent someone from adopting. If people without their own biological children want to foster, they need to understand the legal difference between adoption and foster care (please see eh on difference between foster care and adoption). Many agencies are hesitant to consider families for foster care that have not had their own children, because if reunification with the biological family is possible, this is often very challenging. Individuals and families would need to consider the implications of both foster care and adoption so they can make an informed decision.
Can adoption occur from foster care?
Adoption can occur from foster care. But fostering with the specific intent to adopt is not encouraged, unless the specific child is eligible for adoption. Each case would be different and would depend on the whether the child can be legally defined as ‘adoptable’. People who approach Arise with fostering with the specific intent to adopt are encouraged to consider applying for adoption outright. People who apply to foster, can always consider adoption as an option, but need to be aware that each case would be assessed as to whether it is in the best interest of the child and there would be no guarantees that the child would be adoptable.
The child’s parents or extended family want to take over care of the child, is biological family a better placement?
Biological family is always the best placement for a child. Only when this is not possible or appropriate are alternative placement options, such as foster care and adoption considered. While a child is in a children’s home or foster care, efforts will be made to connect the child to their biological family including extended family. The families’ circumstances would be assessed by a social worker to determine whether it is in the best interest of the child(ren) to returnhome.
I am worried about the reason the child was removed, how do I know they are safe?
The circumstances would be assessed by a designated social worker to determine whether the child can be returned into the care of their biological family.
How can I care for a child that is not mine? Foster care is temporary, how will I handle it if the child is placed back with biological family?
As a Christian organization we recognize that no children belong to us, they are all a gift from God. We therefore encourage individuals/families to consider foster children in the same way - we trust these children to God. Foster care is temporary, but it is always better than the alternative option of a children’s home placement. Saying goodbye will be challenging and Arise offers training, foster support groups and therapeutic services to assist with this.
How does contact with biological family happen?
Contact with biological family will be case specific. These can range from supervised visits at the social workers’ office to day visits, weekend visits/school holidays. This would be discussed and assessed by the designated social worker with the foster parents and scheduled visits would be arranged to facilitate contact.
I am worried about taking an older child, because of what they have been exposed to. How would I handle their behavior?
Most people want to foster babies and young children, because fears and uncertainties. However the biggest need for fostering older children: ranging from 6-17 years old. People assume that older children will always be more challenging than younger ones, however this is not always the case and we would ask people to prayerfully consider whether they might be able to foster an older children.
What is the HIV status of the children needing foster care?
Many HIV positive children require foster care. It is up to the individual foster parent or family to decide whether this is something that would be possible. Arise requests you to indicate this on the application forms. If this is of concern to you if can be discussed in respect to individual cases once you have applied as a foster parent, as obviously there is confidentiality for the child that needs to be upheld. Before you begin fostering a specific child(ren) medical information, including HIV status will be discussed and shared with you.
Can I get a foster care grant, what other support is there?
Foster care grants are provided to assist people who are fostering, a means test would be conducted. Please see the link for more information: http://www.blacksash.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&;view=article&id=894&Itemid=175
The SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS ACT, NO. 84 OF 1996 states that foster children have an automatic exemption of school fees, please see link - http://www.education.gpg.gov.za/Documents/29311.pdf. However foster parent need to be aware that this does not cover any additional school costs such as uniform, sports, books etc.
