Exploring policy implementation: the care dependency grant.

Abstract

The White Paper for Social Welfare of 1997 was created in order to address past inequalities. The main goal was to ensure that all citizens are provided with the equal chance of a better standard of living. The White Paper then gave rise to the Social Assistance Act 13 of 2004 in order to make provisions for social assistance for the most vulnerable groups in society, such as the elderly and persons with disabilities. The Social Assistance Act 13 of 2004 covers the disability grant, the care dependency grant, the child support grant, the foster care grant, war veterans grant, old person's grant, as well as relief of social distress. This legislation was then supported by other legislations such as the South African Social Security Agency Act, then gave rise to SASSA which is an agency that is responsible for implementing these grants. The purpose of the study was to explore policy implementation in relation to the care dependency grant. In order to achieve this, the study utilized the systematic approach and secondary data collection techniques from previous studies in order to establish the efficacy of the government's response to the needs of children with disabilities. Policy implementation plays a crucial role in the policy process. There are certain conditions that need to be met so that the policy objectives are implemented successfully. However, the findings suggest that the current disability policy is not sufficiently implemented since these conditions are not met. Some crucial challenges faced here range from failing to align policies between departments to the lack of human resources within government; this subsequently denies a high number of children with disabilities their right to social protection.