Rights-based Family Reunification Services for Children in Alternative Care: Principles Guiding Social Workers in South Africa

A rights-based approach provides a practice framework for ensuring that family reunification processes uphold the dignity, participation, and well-being of children and families. However, there is limited empirical articulation of how such principles are operationalised in practice. Based on a quantitative study conducted in child protection organisations ( n = 5 ), this study examines the rights-based principles that guide social workers in rendering family reunification services in South Africa and explores their implications for practice. Utilising a survey design, data were collected from child protection social workers ( n = 127) and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The eight principles of a rights-based approach, namely participation, considering the views of the child, empowerment, relevancy, transparency, accountability, cultural competency, and accessibility, were rated by social workers on a questionnaire with a Likert scale that had five response categories. The study results reveal that “Considering the views of the child” received the highest mean rating ( M = 4.66, SD = 0.50), followed by “Accountability of all stakeholders” ( M = 4.63, SD = 0.52) and “Transparency in the family reunification process” (M = 4.60, SD = 0.55). Paired t -tests with Bonferroni correction revealed that “Considering the views of the child” was rated significantly higher than “Locally relevant interventions” [ t (126) = 2.75, p = 0.007, d = 0.24] and “Cultural competency of the social worker” [ t (126) = 3.12, p = 0.002, d = 0.28]. In conclusion, these principles collectively shift practice toward inclusive, participatory, and contextually grounded interventions, while promoting social justice and reinforcing children and families as rights holders.