Sunlight Safe House

It became clear soon after Childline was established, that in order to give children the best possible care, we had to find a solution to the glaring lack of after-hours service for abused and abandoned children. Started in 1997 under the auspices of Childline Gauteng, the Sunlight Safe House (NPO 059-896) organisation has catered for more than 4 000 traumatised children who would have had to stay in police stations until welfare agencies opened their doors during normal working hours The Sunlight Safe House organisation provides short-term care, in loving homes for children removed by the police until a suitable placement is found by relevant statutory services.

Children received at our central facility undergo medical, emotional and trauma assessments before being referred to the correct facility or placed in one of our 120 safe houses equipped with a volunteer parent who provide 24/7 care and are trained to deal with the children’s specific circumstances. Currently children are staying in our safe houses far longer than intended, as the administrative and statutory functions are taking longer to arrange and long-term placements are not always available. This is serious as these children who are already emotionally compromised, become bonded to our parents and are further traumatised when they have a change of placement after a long period of time with one of our parents.

In response, the project recently trained 45 mothers to run permanent foster care homes. The organisation also provides long-term care for HIV+ children and young people who are difficult to place. Given its crucial role, plans are afoot to extend the Sunlight Safe House organisation on all fronts.