Child-headed households (CHHs) is a phenomenon that is concealed under the umbrella term of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in South African schools (Van Breda, 2010). Like all children in South Africa, children from CHHs have a right to basic nutrition, basic education, and social services (Republic of South Africa, 1996) to address their physical, spiritual, and emotional needs. However, the reality that cannot be overlooked, as explained by Van Breda (2010) and Campbell et al. (2014), is that learners from CHHs are amongst the most vulnerable, caring for themselves and living in underprivileged communities with a number of socio-economic problems. The phenomenon of CHHs is prevalent all over the world, where the cause in developed countries is mostly to allow parents to participate in employment and other activities (Dahlblom, Herrara, Peña, & Dahlgren, 2009). The South African situation is different as CHHs are exacerbated by the rapid rates at which orphanhood and destitution are occurring which make it “difficult for families and communities to respond in the traditional manner of taking these children into extended families” (Mogotlane, Chauke, Van Rensburg, Human, & Kganaga, 2010, p. 25). When these problems are left unabated, and when no psychosocial support is provided to them, learners from CHHs are left with no other alternative but to drop out of school (Van Dijk & Van Driel, 2009).

UNICEF (2014) estimated that there are 150,000 children living in CCHs in South Africa, while Statics South Africa’s General Household Survey (2015) showed that there are about 90,000 children in 50,000 CHHs. Mogotlane et al. (2010) and Nyaradzo (2013) found that the phenomenon of CHHs in South Africa is increasing both in number and complexity. More than 57% of all children living in child-only households are aged 15 years and older (Richter & Desmond, 2008), 6% of children in CHHs are under 6 years of age (Hall, Richter, Mokomane, & Lake, 2018), while the youngest head is 12 years of age (Blaauw, Viljoen, & Schenck, 2011).

Campbell et al. (2014) have highlighted many international policies which are increasingly indicating that schools are key to filling the gap of parents in supporting learners in their well-being. In line with international trends and a call for health-promoting schools from the World Health Organisation, the Department of Basic Education in South Africa embarked on health-promotion project to improve the health status of learners, thereby establishing schools as centres of care (Mogotlane et al., 2010). Pearson et al. (2015) define school health promotion programmes as a designated combination of activities, and messages which are intended to achieve specific health promotion, health education or healthy behaviour goals in learners. Such health programmes are a response grounded in evidence-based practices that can be used to avoid re-traumatisation of learners.

Researchers agree that schools should take full responsibility for learners who are at risk of vulnerability due to a lack of adult care (Payne, 2012) however, these children are rarely adequately supported (Asikhia & Mohangi, 2015). In the case of South Africa, there is scarcity of research on psychosocial support for learners from CHHs, directed at the use of trauma-informed approaches, the research that was found emphasised the need for more investigation to be conducted on this issue. Research by Van Dijk and Van Driele (2009) examined how generational constructions influence youngsters’ needs, their access to support, and the impact of such support on their coping strategies. Haley and Bradbury (2015) examined the phenomenon of CHHs and the networks of relations between these children and adults in the wider community. This research found that the presence of supportive adults in the children’s lives provided some relief with daily challenges, however, the children felt that they were subject to animosity and negative gendered stereotyping. In the light of the prevalence and the nature of the CHHs phenomenon in South Africa, there is a need to investigate how they are supported. This article aims to contribute towards the discourse on psychosocial support for learners from CHHs in schools advocating for inclusion of trauma-informed approaches in the health-promotion interventions that are already existing.

Background

There are a number of reasons why children end up in CHHs. Some children stay in CHHs because of being unsafely abandoned (left in the streets or in their house on their own) by their parents. According to Blackie (2014), abandonment in South Africa is on the rise and approximately 5% of children are either adopted, living in foster care or a CHH, or living on the streets. Meintjes, Hall, Marera, and Boulle (2010) confirm the issue of abandonment by indicating that most children living in a CHH, have a living parent. Moreover, because of the HIV epidemic, the proportion of children who have lost both parents have increased remarkably. Referring to the tragic eventuality of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the sub-Saharan region, Phillips (2011) indicates that many double-orphaned children are left in charge of households and have to take care of their siblings. However, other CHHs arise from the desire of siblings to remain together, even in a CHH, rather than suffering the additional loss of siblings when extended families cannot take in all the children. This can also happen especially if the risk exists that the family might lose their home or property.

It has always been a norm in African communities for children whose parents died to be cared for by relatives and or the deceased’s significant others. The widowed mothers can continue to take care of their children with the assistance of the extended family, unlike in rural China, where traditional kinship care obligations restrict the viability of widowed mothers continuing to care for their children (Shang, Saldov, & Fisher, 2010). In black cultures where family takes over the responsibility of caring for a relative’s children after the relative’s death, it is not regarded as adoption but is to kinship fostering that is practised all over the world. The family taking the orphaned or abandoned children of relatives do so out of feeling responsible but not as legally required to adopt the children. The difficulty for black communities in taking care and raising children who do not share the same clan name and cultural beliefs as them, can be attributed to their belief system. According to Bilodeau (2015, p. 6), black citizens would “rather have a joint adoption where the child is raised by both the adoptive parent and the biological family to maintain the child’s clan name and cultural practices”. Thus, caring and taking in orphaned or abandoned children of relatives has decreased over the years. Amoateng and Richter (2007) accredit this to the increase in the number of orphans over the years, the diminishing number of family members who volunteer to care for them, and weakened families and communities.

Conceptual and Theoretical Framework

A household is considered a CHH by the Draft Children’s Amendment Bill (South Africa, 2005) if:

the parent, guardian or caregiver of the household is terminally ill, has died or has abandoned the children in the household; no adult family member is available to provide care for the children in the household; a child over the age of 16 years has assumed the role of a care-giver in respect of the children in the household (Section 137.1).

Referring to children in CHHs, this definition mentions children who have been abandoned, whose parents are terminally ill and whose parents have died. A household that is child-headed does not have an adult family member providing care to the children in it, or the adult could be present in the home but incapacitated and thus unable to provide care due to illness or absence. In such cases, the responsibility of running the household is transferred to the eldest male or girl child. A CHH also includes a child remaining on his or her own, heading his or her own household in the absence of any siblings. The child heading the household is usually the oldest member living in the house, assuming the role of primary caregiver in respect of the siblings in the household (South Africa, 2005, 2008). The household is child-headed if the child head is still attending school.

In this research article, psychosocial support is conceptualised in terms of functional components which can include material support, emotional support (De Nutte, Okello, & Derluyn, 2017), mental and spiritual support. This research focused on rendered support. The availability and effective implementation of support programmes are imperative for holistic development of learners from CHHs. The major existential need of learners from CHHs is an economic need, according to Maqoko and Dreyer (2007), and Kuhanen, Shemeikka, Notkola, and Nghixulifwa (2008). The economic conditions of these children affect their living conditions and lead to their vulnerability to poverty (Pillay, 2011). They battle to attain simple essentials for their day-to-day needs, such as food, toiletries, and clothing, which can hinder their learning (Campbell et al., 2014).

According to Bonthuys (2010), children from CHHs experience emotional trauma as a result of heightened stress levels, anxiety, fear and a decline in their self-esteem. They need emotional support also as a result of carrying the heavy load of adult responsibilities (Campbell et al., 2014). Long before the death of their parents, children who happen to be in CHHs because of death of parents due to illness, start to develop an emotional void as they take on the care-giving role of nursing their gravely-ill parent(s) (Bonthuys, 2010). This void does not disappear but worsens upon the death of the parent(s) into a situation of unresolved grief (Ruiz-Casares, 2009). The persistent emotional distress experienced by children from CHHs consequently becomes an academic barrier in the classroom (Williams, 2010) which can lead to bad performance and academic failure.

The theory that guides this research is that of trauma-informed approaches to support. A trauma-informed approach focusses on creating educational environments that are responsive to the needs of trauma-exposed learners through the implementation of effective practices and systems-change strategies (Chafouleas, Johnson, Overstreet, & Santos, 2015). In this research, this would mean incorporating key trauma principles in the support provided to learners from CHHs in the health promotion programmes existing in schools. Trauma is broadly defined as an experience that is emotionally painful, distressful or shocking, and often results in long-term mental and physical health consequences (Shonkoff et al., 2012). Through trauma, schools are confronted with a serious dilemma in how to balance their primary goal of schooling, which is teaching and learning, with the reality of dealing with learners who experience traumatic stress, aggravated by their vulnerability. Thus, the vigour behind trauma-informed approaches in support of learners from CHHs stems from the growing awareness of the prevalence of exposure to trauma by learners at schools. Hamoudi, Murray, Sorensen, and Fontaine (2015) indicate that its justification is based on an increased understanding of the corrosive impacts resulting from the biological, psychological, and social adaptations to chronic exposure to trauma.

As Tajvidi, Wang, Hajli, and Love (2017) suggest, the provision of psychosocial support to learners in CHHs in this study focused on what support was rendered and how support provision was facilitated in schools. This type of research looks at the support behaviour, i.e. specific acts of support rendered and appraisal of support. The data pertains to individuals’ subjective evaluation of support rendered. An empirical research was conducted to gather data on the perspectives of the participants about psychosocial support provision to learners from CHHs.

Research Method and Design

In order to explore and understand the provision of support to CHHs by means of health promoting programmes, a qualitative method of research was utilised. A qualitative research method was preferred because of its focus on how people view and construct meaning out of experiences (Nieuwenhuis, 2010). This method allowed the researchers to achieve an understanding from the participants of the meaning that they assigned to their actions in support rendered to learners from CHHs. A phenomenological design was chosen with an aim of listening closely to the participants as they describe their everyday experiences with regards providing support to learners from CHHs. The investigation focused on people who were involved in providing support to learners, thus, those who were coordinators of health programmes for social support in schools.

Participant Selection

Five ordinary public high schools were selected to participate in this research. All five schools were in the Sedibeng East district. These schools were classified as underperforming and were in Quintiles 1 or 2 category of schools, indicating the poor status of the communities in which they resided. Schools were purposefully selected because these schools had enrolled learners from CHHS and the participants had experience with regard to CHHs.

The information about the number of learners from CHHs in each school was obtained from the district by the second author. This is data that is gathered annually at schools. Schools with the highest number of learners from CHHs were selected and approached to request their participation in the study.

Two types of sampling methods were used to select participants: criterion sampling and stratified purposive sampling. The inclusion criterion used to recruit participants, was that the school must have had not less than five learners from CHHs in their enrolment in two successive years (2014, 2015). All schools with no learners from CHHs or which had less than five, were excluded. The demographics of participating schools with regard to the total enrolment and the number of learners from CHHs are presented in Table 1.

Table 1 Enrolment and number of learners from CHH from 2014–2015
Full size table

The five schools that participated are indicated as A, B, C, D, and E. The data in this table indicates that the number of learners from CHHs were fewer in Grades 8 and 9 than in Grades 10 to 12. The households were relatively small, ranging from two to three siblings who were taken care of by the heads. Children in Grades 8 and 9 had adult relatives who were checking on them and collecting social grants on their behalf. The percentage of learners from CHHs ranged between 0.6 and 2.5%. This number is not insignificant especially in ensuring that no child is left behind. All learners in the table above were informally adopted by teachers who were participants in this research.

As alluded earlier, the sampling was stratified. The three strata included principals (P) of the five schools (n = 5), and the co-ordinators of health programmes (H) (n = 5), one from each school. Teachers (T) with the highest number of learners from CHHs in their classes in 2014 and 2015 were recruited: School A (grade 10 and 11 teachers); B (grade 9 teacher); C (grade 10 and 11 teachers); D (grade 11 and 12 teachers); and E (grade 10 and 11 teachers). In total nine (n = 9) teachers participated. The purpose of collecting data from three different kinds of informants is a form of data triangulation, which contrasts the data and validates it if it yields similar findings. We considered that teachers, more than nurses and social workers who only visit schools occasionally, are mostly directly involved in the support of learners from CHHs. It was beyond the scope of this research to include learners from CHHs to get their perceptions on the support they receive.

Data Collection Methods

Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with every participant after teaching time. Mertens (2010) explains that interviews are used for the primary focus of understanding a person’s impressions or experiences. Using individual interviews allowed for the development of a wide range of information regarding various support interventions offered to learners from CHHs, how they supported the children and their perceptions on what worked or failed. An interview schedule with open-ended questions was used in order for the participants to express themselves freely. The interview guide contained questions, such as:

  • Which health-promotion programmes provide psycho-social support to learners from CHHs in your school?

  • How are the health-promotion programmes implemented in order to provide support to learners from CHHs?

Document analyses were also done to formulate an understanding of how learners from CHHs were supported. These documents included policies and documents relating to support programmes, including the National School Nutrition Programme, school uniform programme, food gardening projects, and emotional support programmes. The data collected from the documents with information on identification and support of learners from CHHs was used to corroborate data collected by means of interviews.

Explicitation of the Data

In line with Hycner’s (1999) stipulation with regards to the dangers of embarking on data analysis in phenomenological research, we opted for the term “explicitation”, which refers to the investigation of the constituents of a phenomenon while keeping the context of the whole. The process in the first stage included exploring the data to gain a general idea of the raw data, heightening our awareness of the key features, delineating units of meaning by means of coding (we developed a book of 150 codes). We then clustered the units of meaning to form themes and extracted general and unique themes from all the interviews and compiled a composite summary. We coded the data separately and then had discussion sessions about the codes. Relevant codes were categorised into three major themes: (i) physical and material support; (ii) emotional support (iii); and support with adult supervision. The second stage involved working on the three identified themes, ensuring that the verbatim statements addressed the themes and that no data was lost. All the themes discussed in this research were derived from an inductive explicitation of data from participants and documents.

Ethical Measures

The university’s Ethical Committee and the Gauteng Department of Education granted permission for the research. All participants gave consent to the second author to participate after having been informed about what the study involved and what their role was in the study. Ethical measures relating to confidentiality were observed by not mentioning the names of schools instead are referred to as A, B, C, D, and E, while and those of participants as indicated above. Learners were not mentioned by names in the conversations and the data in Table 1 came for the documents that were obtained from the district. The names of learners were blotted out in the lists. Participants were made aware that debriefing sessions would be provided after the interviews for those who needed it.

Trustworthiness

After the interviews were transcribed, participants had an opportunity to check it before we started with the analysis. They could check for the correctness of the information that they provided. During coding, we checked each other’s work for accuracy of transcripts and codes.

Results

The data collected from the participants indicated that material support, emotional support, and spiritual support were rendered to children from CHHs by coordinators of school health programmes.

Support with Physical and Material Needs

Participants mentioned various national and school-based programmes that support the material needs of learners from CHHs. The national programmes included: the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), the uniform programme and the Sanitary Pads project. The last two programmes are the responsibility of the Department of Social Development. The school-based programmes varied from school to school, but included the following: Adopt-A-Learner, food garden project and support from NGOs. Quotes from teachers are indicated as T and A, B or C is the school at which she/he is teaching, this is the same with health coordinators (H) and principals (P).

National School Nutrition Programme

The NSNP is an existing programme at all five participating schools. The aim of this programme is to provide food to all learners from disadvantaged communities. Feedback from participants were: Here at school we have a feeding scheme which all learners benefit from (TB); Every learner is entitled to be fed at school (TE1); We serve two meals, breakfast and lunch (HC); In our school we only serve one meal at lunch (HD); It is very important, learners are able to concentrate in class (TA2).

Some schools indicated being able to give learners extra food for weekends even when they are not attending school. Participants indicated this as helping mostly learners from CHHs: We give the surplus vegetables to orphans every Friday (HE); We give out leftovers from the previous month then the first Friday of the new month (HC), learners are able to have food at home, this can help them to continue with their school work (TC2).

Class teachers identify learners who need to be given more food. All learners in the five schools are beneficiaries of school nutrition as per their classification as discussed above: We identify those learners who are really in need of the food, make a list and give it to the coordinator of the NSNP (TC1). It is important to motivate learners to come forward, food is very important for learners especially in CHH (TB).

Food Garden Project

The food garden project was not effective in four of the participating schools. In the school where the food garden was operating well, teachers and community members were designated to manage the project. The produce from the garden benefited learners in the school as well as members of the community. The school won a competition for the best vegetable garden 1 year before the research was conducted: Every week we manage to give vulnerable learners a bunch of spinach, cabbage and maybe onions to take home (PB); When we have enough produce then we add to the feeding scheme (HB); Volunteers from an NGO and learners help in the food garden at least three times a week (TD1); It is important for learners to get veggies from school, they don’t have money to buy them and they need nutritious food (HB); Learners get fresh vegetables to cook in their homes, they stress less about not having food (TB).

Food Packages

One of the schools had financial support from companies such as Natures Choice, who helped them in supporting learners who were participating in sport and music competitions. Another school had support from an NGO who provided learners in their school with food packages: When learners from child-headed families are going to participate in some competitions, we talk to Nature’s Choice, they help out (PB); The NGO I just mentioned, give learners who are heading homes, food packages on a fort-night basis (PE); It is important for us to work with NGOs. Learners need the food to continue schooling (TE2).

Uniform Programme

The uniform programme provides learners with school uniforms at schools. Learners are identified by class teachers: We must identify learners, then we must submit the names of the learners to the District office (TB).

Participants indicated problems with regard to the distribution of school uniforms. The measurements are taken towards the end of the previous year and then the uniforms are delivered at the beginning of the following year. This process does not consider learners who are in Grade 7 in the previous year. When they get to high school the following year, the uniforms are supplied to learners whose measurements were taken: Uniform is delivered in January or February (TA1); We take measurements of learners maybe August, September (PD); Learners who are new have to wait until towards the end of the year when measurements will be taken for the following year (TA2); Learners in Grade 8 or those that enrol for the first time have to buy uniform for the year, it bad for learners from CHHs (TC1).

Sanitary Pads Project

Three participating schools were receiving sanitary packs from the Department of Social Development for female learners. However, these deliveries were irregular and schools were not sure when they would receive them again: Every girl is getting, not only the needy, this is a very important project for girls (HD); Sometimes the delivery is once in six months. You know it is never stable (TD2); In these packs learners get Vaseline, a body lotion, a roll-on, a toilet paper, a pack of sanitary pads and sunlight soap (TC2).

Schools are not able to supplement these resources for various reasons. There was also an indication of too much dependence on supplies from the department: We relied on the supplies, maybe because we expected them to provide learners with the resources frequently (PB); It is the responsibility of the department not ours, we cannot take over from them, it is their failure, learners need them but there is nothing we can do (PD); We strive to make our own projects a success we cannot carry their burden (PC).

Support with Adult Supervision

This school programme was implemented in all five participating schools. Learners were assigned to teachers who were willing to be their ‘parents’ (adopt them informally) for the year. This is based on an African idiom that says “a child is raised by a village”. The schools adopted this value that is derived from Ubuntu (humanness). The idea was to ensure that each vulnerable learner had an adult person who took care of them for the year. Learners received assistance with resources and emotional support from their teachers who acted as informal adopters: Usually at the beginning of the year each educator is assigned to adopt at least five learners (HA); There will never be enough teachers, we have a huge number of learners that are vulnerable, let alone those that come from CHHs who need much more care and support (PA); It helps learners a lot, they tend to open up as the year progresses and be able to talk about anything (TC1); We share what we have, groceries mainly, then emotional support, we just have to be there for them (HD); The most valuable thing is to give them time to talk to you about their concerns and fears (HA).

Teachers in the participating schools participated in the programme willingly without being coerced. They loved being of help and they indicated being fulfilled by having an opportunity to raise children who were not their own: We are used to it, it does not bother us, but the number of children you adopt must not exceed five in order for them to get your attention (TD2); Every teacher adopts each year, we love it, it gives you satisfaction when the child remains at school and progresses well academically in the year when you are the parent (TE1); We boast about the performance of our adopted children and also support each other if one teacher’s child has problems that are beyond his or her teacher-parent (TA1).

The support rendered was more specific to the needs of the adopted learners. All schools would compile “must-adopt lists” of learners who come from CHHs (first on the list), orphans who stayed with grandparents or relatives (second on the list), then those who come from very poor families where no one was working and those misbehaving because of being neglected at home. Teachers would provide resources, emotional support, guidance, monitor academic progress and offer their homes during examination periods for learners to stay until the end of examinations: Teachers are allowed to adopt any learner, but they choose learners from the list first (PA); I would have a combination in my group, actually, it does not matter to me, all learners in the list deserve to be loved (TE2); Sometimes you do not have to give them anything material, instead help with application for grant, just check them on weekends if they are fine and ask frequently about school work (TD1); I usually choose those that are in Grades 11 and 12. I know now that I help with providing guidance, check performance and assist if necessary, provide accommodation during examination time and when they are writing block tests (HE); At first it is scary, you are not sure if you are going to help or make things worse, it gets better with time. Children are not the same and they experience things differently, this is what I learnt from my experience (TD2).

Emotional and Psychological Support

All five participating schools had a district-based social worker who was working with most schools in the participating district. The social worker visited the schools under her cluster to assist learners with social services, including providing counselling to those who had been identified by teachers as needing it. This counselling programme by social workers was indicated as ineffective due to the low number of visits and their perceived inability to work with teachers: Those learners who have been identified will be taken to an office which is allocated for counselling and the social worker will talk to them (PE); We would see change with others in terms of behaviour and others not (TC1); My main problem is the few number of visits and the fact that not all learners who need counselling would be attended to because of this (HB); Learners need counselling, they deal with serious issues of raising themselves on their own (PC).

One of the participating schools had a programme running on Thursdays in which counsellors from Lifeline would visit the school in order to talk to learners about issues, such as HIV/AIDS and teenage pregnancy. Counselling would also be provided to teenage mothers. Another participating school also mentioned that nurses were invited to their school to give talks to the learners: Nurses and counsellors from Lifeline visit the school occasionally to talk to learners about health issues, offer guidance and counselling (HA); Nurses talk to learners about teenage pregnancy, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (HB); Nurses come when invited to talk about anything pertaining to health, this benefits the learners (TA1); This gives learners an opportunity of talking to adults other than us, in order to offload (PE).

Two participating schools indicated that pastors were encouraged to visit their schools. Learners benefitted from the guidance and encouragement of the pastors which would contribute to their emotional wellness: We invite pastors to encourage and motivate learners, we are very cautious about this, attendance is voluntary, they are only for learners who want to attend (PB); All pastors in the community are welcome, our learners attend their churches, seeing them in school encourages them (PC); Learners need spiritual healing. Learners from CHHs do not have people who will encourage them to access such a service (HE).

Discussion

This research intended to determine the provision of psychosocial support to learners from CHHs in five high schools in a district in Gauteng, South Africa using trauma-informed approach as a lens. This study was conducted with school managers, coordinators of health programmes, and teachers who happened to have the highest number of learners from CHHs in their classes. All schools were situated in poor communities where most of the learners were regarded as vulnerable, even if they were not from CHHs. The highest number of learners from CHHs were in Grades 10 to 12. Perhaps the most important fact that this study is communicating, is that there are learners from CHHs that are attending schools in South Africa. The sobering reality is that these learners have to be supported in order to address their vulnerability and marginalisation for positive youth development and future success. The participating schools had identified learners potentially needing services to address needs related to trauma exposure. If the schools were using trauma-informed approach, the next step in responding to the needs of trauma-exposed learners as suggested by Ko et al. (2008) and Listenbee et al. (2012) would have been the universal screening for trauma exposure and/or traumatic stress reactions. This is an important step in determining the level of stress/trauma among the learners from CHHs.

There was a variety of support programmes in the participating schools that were meant to serve as a foundation for learners’ social, mental, spiritual and emotional upliftment. With regards to physical and material support, learners received food from the feeding scheme regularly throughout the year; school uniforms were provided fairly regularly but the sanitary pad programme was not doing as well as the other two programmes. Learners from CHHs come from food-insecure environments. Food insecurity (Hecht, Biehl, Buzogany, & Neff, 2018) and a lack of material needs can add to the trauma that learners from CHHs already experience. Having a supply of meals, school uniforms and sanitary packs can alleviate trauma. In addition, a study by Rashmi et al. (2015) established a strong positive relationship between school childrens’ nutritional status and academic performance. Kavanaugh, Tier, and Korzec (2004) highlight that the lack of psychosocial support is associated with complicated and intensified grief and trauma. Conceivably, it is for this reason that Ebersöhn and Ellof (2006) advocated for the development of sustainable health-promoting programmes in their study. The availability of health-promoting programmes creates an opportunity to align trauma-informed approaches with the existing health-promoting interventions.

The programme of informal adoption of learners by teachers seemed to be working well. There could be various reasons for this, including that it was voluntary, the teachers owned it (in that sense it was their brain-child), they were involved in decision making about how it operates and they knew what they had to do. Teacher responsiveness through informal adoption of learners can be applauded, especially in schools characterised as high risk with learners in high need due to socio-economic factors of the communities in which they reside. Schools in such communities bear the brunt of having to accommodate learners that are in dire poverty, growing up in areas that are riddled with crime and other social ills that demand a special type of support and care. The informal adoption provided an opportunity for psychosocial support that was individualised and specific to the needs of the adopted learner. Learners from CHHs had an opportunity of being given special attention by adults who resembled their parents, and at the same time motivated them to do well academically. Teachers thus created a conducive environment for learners to continue schooling, look to the future and aspire to access higher education and career opportunities like all other learners. This initiative creates an opportunity to decrease the impact of trauma on each adopted learner, as it targets the unique needs of learners from CHH. There is a need to strengthen these initiatives in order to recognise and respond to learner behavior from a trauma-informed perspectives suggested by Wiest-Stevenson and Lee (2016). These results are not in line with those of a study conducted by Marongwe, Sonn, and Mashologu (2016) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, indicating that teachers were not ready and able to assist learners. Instead the teachers in this study represented a valuable resource that is needed in alleviating trauma of growing up without a parent which could be a lifeline for learners from CHHs.

The emotional and psychological support was addressed in three dimensions: (1) that of a teacher as a lay counsellor; (2) school nurses and social workers as professionals; and (3) pastoral care. There seemed to be a variety of emotional support interventions that were employed in the schools. Rossi and Stuart (2007) mention that support programmes that target emotional needs of learners at schools can act as a buffer and prevent the emotional voids from worsening. The teachers’ contribution cannot be taken lightly considering the statement by Wolmer, Hamiel, Barchas, Slone, and Laor (2011) that several teacher-provided classroom interventions have been found to successfully reduce children’s psychological reactions to trauma. Moreover, emotional support is important in breaking the cycle of trauma among trauma-exposed learners. A collaboration with trauma-informed practitioners (school nurses and social workers as professionals) is important in the creation of a consistent, trauma-informed environment. Successful program implementation and sustainability requires teachers to collaborate with trauma-informed mental health educators (Morton & Berardi, 2018). Beehler et al. (2012) argue that a trauma-informed approach has to be culturally sensitive in order for it to address the unique mental issues. As all the groups that had been indicated as providing emotional support work and some reside in the same communities as learners from CHHs, their training on trauma-informed approaches would ensure a delivery of this important service by culturally responsive providers.

The teachers seemed to be in agreement in considering physical, material support as important factors for learners. They even had to supplement the food by collaborating with NGOs. However, it seems that the sanitary pad programme was not as important as food as even when they realised that the supplies were not regular they did not do anything to supplement these resources, in fact they indicated their unwillingness to do so. Teachers also regarded emotional support as important as they decided not to rely only on professional counselling but included pastoral care and informal adoption as means of support. The latter factors if strengthened can be used as response to learners who experience trauma.

Conclusion

This study concentrated on the field of experience of school principals, coordinators of programmes and teachers that were directly involved with the teaching and support of learners from CHHs. It is promising to see such programmes as “adopt-a-learner” that are the initiative of the schools themselves. However, further research needs to be conducted on the quality of interactions between the adopters and their informally adopted children to get deeper understanding of the nature of support provided in these caring relationships and the extent to which this kind of support can alleviate trauma in learners from CHHs.

There is a need for changes in school health policies and school-wide practices to accommodate interventions specifically targeting learners from CHHs. The training and capacity building of teachers who informally adopt learners is a necessity. Teachers need to be informed about trauma-sensitive practices and stress, burnout and secondary trauma in learners from CHHs. Teachers need the ability to set a boundary between being a teacher and parenting an informally adopted child. There is an opportunity to work together with social workers where the latter do needs assessment of teacher adopters and provide the necessary training and assistance.

The most valuable lesson for social workers in schools is to take cognisance of the initiatives of teachers in support of vulnerable learners and align their programmes with those of teachers in order to support them. This would strengthen their interventions and enable them to provide multi-pronged programmes that cater for the needs of vulnerable learners.