On Monday, Premier Alan Winde and Western Cape Social Development Minister, Sharna Fernandez, visited the Horizon Child and Youth Care Centre (CYCC), which is in the process of a R104 million upgrade.
The centre is a facility for young men awaiting trial as well as sentenced youth between 13 and 20 years old. The residents at Horizon CYCC are currently only aged 18 to 21. Part of the upgrade will mean that the centre will eventually have the capacity to house 195 residents.
The Child Justice Act states that when crimes are committed by minors, a judge can sentence them to serve terms in secure child and youth care centres, and be accommodated until age 21.
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There are seven residential child and youth care centres that the Department of Social Development manages in our province, and they all offer varying levels of care.
Horizon CYCC is a level 4 secure care centre, which means that the centre offers a number of interventions.
The interventions and programmes offered deal with substance abuse treatment, education and vocational initiatives, sports and recreation programmes, and therapeutic interventions.
These interventions form part of the Western Cape Government’s ‘Vision Inspired Priorities’ – a strategy that is part of the Provincial Strategic Plan to enhance safety and well-being for residents.
The upgrades happening at the facility for at-risk youth, including young people who have committed crimes, is a clear commitment to this plan.
At a meeting with the representatives from the centre and the provincial Department of Social Development on Monday, the Premier and Minister were given an update on the project and the upgrades that are being constructed.
It was also an opportunity for the centre’s employees to raise challenges that they and the offenders face.
Some of these challenges include overcrowding, a highly legislated and regulated environment which can be restrictive, budgetary constraints worsened by loadshedding, and staff shortages.
Despite these issues, the people that work at the centre are passionate about what they do and are dedicated to the residents’ well-being.
“These upgrades should help improve services aimed at helping to rehabilitate the young people who pass through the centre,” said Premier Winde.
Minister Fernandez added that “it takes a special kind of individual, like the officials who work at the centre, to do this type of work.”
“This is a difficult environment in which to operate. Dealing with young offenders in a caring, responsive manner is not easy. But this facility – owned by Western Cape Social Development – is doing exactly that with limited resources,” says Premier Winde.
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The facility’s current achievements boast the establishment of a centralised management, admission and administrative support system for youth in alternative residential care, and is the only centre in the country with an early discharge policy.
The centre has created a central, multi-disciplinary team comprised of social workers, psychologists, occupational therapists and nurses, and has set up its own emergency response team to help deal with centre-based violence.
The Minister was frank in admitting that the system to care for and rehabilitate young people who commit crime is under severe strain. It was noted that 60% of the secure care population is 18 to 21 years old.
Premier Winde reflected that “there was clearly a need for improvement, which is happening through these upgrades. But budgetary pressures will make it much tougher to commit to future developments.
It is, however, evident that the staff at Horizon Child and Youth Care Centre, as well as the Provincial Social Development Department are doing commendable work with the resources available to them to help these young people turn their lives around by offering them dignity, hope and opportunities beyond a life of crime.”
Once completed around May 2023, the newly refurbished building will have classrooms and arts facilities.
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Picture: Supplied
