Child and Youth Care Champions

"Auntie helped me dream my dreams again."

Those simple words, spoken by a child about a Child and Youth Care Worker, capture why the National Association of Child Care Workers (NACCW) exists.

Every day, vulnerable children in South Africa face challenges that no child should have to navigate alone. Many carry the effects of poverty, violence, neglect or loss, making it difficult to believe in themselves or their future. Yet healing often begins with one trusted adult who shows up consistently, listens without judgement and never gives up on them.

For more than 50 years, NACCW has been strengthening the professional Child and Youth Care sector in South Africa. Through professional training, ongoing development and advocacy, we equip Child and Youth Care Workers to provide developmental and therapeutic services, guidance and care that help children and young people reclaim hope, grow, heal and thrive.

One of the places this matters most is in our school-based Child and Youth Care programme – Isibindi Ezikoleni (“Courage in Schools...