2021 Mid-Year Summary Report

We are building a culture of mental well-being in school communities

Research tells us that mental health problems in children/youth have been shown to

impact on daily functioning
disrupt educational attendance and attainment
affect social relationships
and interfere with normative development

And in the long term, untreated mental health issues, such as depression, are associated with

an increased risk of subsequent depression
multiple health-risk behaviours (e.g. substance abuse)
an impact on physical health
interpersonal difficulties
and self-harm and suicide

These consequences of mental health problems highlight the importance of preventing mental health disorders and building resilience wherever possible.

By investing in the social, emotional and mental well-being of learners and their caregivers, we help build supportive school communities where learning and development can prosper. Breaking the cycle of trauma is critical for the well-being of family and children, and has a relevance to social justice, because trauma diminishes life opportunities across generations and hinders social mobility.

Service delivery

Demand for our services has increased during the pandemic and, in June, we opened our 29^th CK school office at Apex Primary in Eerste River. During the first 6-months of 2021, we have reached as many learners, parents and educators as we did in the 12-months of 2020 – and we still run a waiting list.

Capacity building and care for staff

Mindful of the toll on our staff, we continue to offer one hour of supervision for every 4 hours of therapy. Our staff are all confined to only working at their individual schools and therefore inter-staff contact time has been kept to a minimum. We realise that this adds to stress and once the vaccination roll-out is complete, we will be in a position to facilitate limited contact sessions for staff well-being.

We held our first Gallup Q12 employee engagement survey with our team and will repeat the exercise at the end of the year.

During the extended school holiday, our therapists attended two accredited training courses with Dr Rinda Blom

Practical skills to support learners with trauma symptoms
Therapeutic strategies and guidelines for parental involvement and empowerment as part of child and adolescent therapy

Community engagement

Due to social distancing, parents have not been able to gather on the school premises but we continue to use telephonic check-in to assess needs and build relationships. Our Areas Managers and Operations Manager engage with educators and school staff as well as the WCED (Western Cape Education Department) and DSD (Department of Social Development) officials at regular intervals.

Feedback from our partner school principals is that school communities are living in a prolonged state of uncertainty. Absenteeism is rife due to Covid isolation, attendance of family funerals, transport strikes or a burden of stress and anxiety. One principal noted that he has a staff member specifically assigned to the task of planning each day based on who is present.

OUR GOAL is to improve psycho-social well-being, self-efficacy, resilience, agency and capacity to alleviate and prevent human suffering.

OUTCOME	INDICATOR	TARGET	PERFORMANCE
OUTCOME	INDICATOR	TARGET	2021	2020	2019	2018
Incremental increase in culture of well-being in schools	% of educators rating CK service good or excellent	>95%	Result pending	96%	97%	92%
Individual attitudinal and behavioural change in learners	% of educators reporting positive change in learners accessing the CK service	>95%	Result pending	87%	79.75%	77%
De-stigmatisation of access to mental health services	% of learners self-referring for services	50%	Q 1 : 39% Q 2 : 40%	41%	41%

Implementation of our new OVC CSI (orphans and vulnerable children, child safety index) is progressing well and we hope to see the first results by the end of the year.

1. Developmental Workshops (Life Keepers)

OBJECTIVES:

learners with the knowledge and skills to make positive life choices
learners who realise their own potential
learners who can work productively and fruitfully
learners with greater resilience and who can cope with normal stresses of life
learners able to make a contribution to the community
healthy, effective, self-sustaining school communities

CHALLENGES:

Covid, lockdown, social distancing and learner rotation play havoc with timetables. Schools are also under pressure to focus on academics so, at Community Keepers, we remain agile, responsive and flexible – always placing the care and needs of the child in the centre of what we do. Part of this flexibility plays out in the various length of time allocated to group sessions.

Due to Covid exposure, our therapists had to isolate from time to time, this was not an ideal situation, however the services continue remotely, via technology.

“A challenge that I am currently facing is the great volume of referrals for discipline issues; there is also an increase in walk-in clients at the office.”

“A challenge this month was learner absenteeism. I address this challenge by referring the concerned learners to collaboration partners in order for them to conduct home-visits and follow-up regarding the learners’ absenteeism.”

HIGHLIGHTS:

A highlight for the period is the Mental Health First Aiders (Receiving Keepers) who are being placed at schools for frontline support. This creates capacity for our therapists to focus on case load while some administrative load is delegated to the Receiving Keeper.

Themes for our workgroups are informed by each school and we endeavour to establish learner committees to gather input and reflect on feedback.

LEARNER COMMITTEE	Q1	Q2 (CUMULATIVE)	AVERAGE PER SCHOOL
SESSIONS	23	38	1.3
PARTICIPANTS	108	174	6

This term we tabled the following topics for our resilience building workgroups:

Dealing with our emotions (Primary School learners)
Motivation (High School learners)
Bullying (all ages)
Child Protection Week – rights and responsibilities

RESILIENCE BUILDING WORKSHOPS	Q 1	Q 2 (CUMULATIVE)	AVERAGE PER SCHOOL
SIZE OF SCHOOLS	25 230	26 100	900
% REACHED	58%	79%	79%
SESSIONS	710	983	34
PARTICIPANTS	14 848	20 680	713

“Die sessie was oulik omdat leerders baie geintereseerd was en hulle nou meer duidelikheid het oor die onderwerp. Kan ook meer gesels oor emosies.”

”Baie oulik, leerders leer van emosies en met wie om te gesels as hulle hulp nodig het.”

Sometimes we don’t see that the little theme that we cover changes a client’s life. During Child Protection Week we shared with the group the importance of their rights and responsibilities. Making children aware of what is right and wrong. After one of our sessions a little girl came to the office and decided to disclose what had happened to her for almost 2 years. She finally found the courage to share that she was molested and that this has haunted her. After our group session she said she knew she could no longer stay quiet and she has Community Keepers to help her. It had always been said to her that what happens in the house is no one’s business. Taking part in these group session made her realise that what was happening to her was wrong and is someone’s business. What we do seems small but it opens eyes, gives strength and courage and allows victims to be brave.

GBVF (gender based violence and femicide)

Gender-based violence remains an issue in our country which was exacerbated under lockdown. We have partnered with the National Development Agency (NDA) and The Solidarity Fund to implement a focused campaign. These sessions aim to destigmatise the topic and provide a platform and safe space for learners to share their feelings.

The campaign includes: a series of animations as conversation starters (English, Afrikaans and Xhosa), workgroups, worksheets, posters to reinforce core messages.

GBV THEMED WORKSHOPS	Q 1	Q 2 (CUMULATIVE)	AVERAGE PER SCHOOL
SESSIONS	339	436	15
PARTICIPANTS	7 180	9 146	315

Developmental Activity Books

During lockdown we started making developmental activity books which were well received. At the start of each school holiday, each partner school is given a pack of 150 themed activity books which are age appropriate.

2. Professional Developmental (Teacher Keepers)

OBJECTIVES:

motivated educators with the practical and emotional skills to realise their own potential
educators with the knowledge on how to work productively and fruitfully
educators who prioritise and practice mental well-being
educators who build healthy relationships, and teach learners to do the same
educators who are able to make a contribution to their community.

CHALLENGES:

Educators returned to school with heightened anxiety understandably concerned about their own health (physical and mental) and with the pressure of another shortened academic year.

Watch the pre-recorded session: Trauma by Educational Psychologist, Amanda van der Vyver

TEACHER WORKSHOPS	Q 1	Q 2 (CUMULATIVE)	AVERAGE PER SCHOOL
SESSIONS	34	59	2
PARTICIPANTS	832	1 509	52

“The session was well presented and also informative session.”

“Baie relevant. Herinner mens net weer om positief teenoor leerders op te tree ongeag hoe moeilik dit is.”

”Baie oulik, sal definitief gebruik. Herinner ons om meer positief te wees/dink/doen in klas.”

“Baie dankie die sessie het weer my oë oopgemaak om op die uitkyk te wees vir kinders wie deur trauma gaan.”

The School-based Support Team (SBST) is a WCED mandated structure in schools and this group is responsible for determining the support needs of learners. We participate in, or host, SBST meetings.

SBST	Q 1	Q 2 (CUMULATIVE)	AVERAGE PER SCHOOL
SESSIONS	88	174	6
PARTICIPANTS	490	1 015	35

3. Caregiver Support (Parent Keepers)

OBJECTIVES:

a safe space to discuss challenges and concerns
supported and empowered parents
parents who realise their own potential and can identify their child’s potential
parents actively involved in their children’s lives

CHALLENGES:

Due to social distancing regulations, parent meetings may be either in-person or a digital engagement via video, and we distribute these videos via social media channels such as school Whatsapp groups, Facebook and YOUTUBE links or the option of a DVD.

Watch the pre-recorded session: Your Safety Network by Joane Geldenhuys

POSITIVE PARENTING WORKSHOPS	Q 1	Q 2 (CUMULATIVE)	AVERAGE PER SCHOOL
SESSIONS	42	67	2.3
PARTICIPANTS	5 774	9 650	333

“A highlight for me would be the positive engagements that I have been experiencing with the parents. Sometimes a negative picture is painted by educators regarding parents; I am grateful for the engagements that I have had.”

“I feel more people need to hear about this. People around us are hurting and we don’t know, but if there are more sessions, then there is a way.”

4. Connect Keepers

Our network and collaboration partners are important to us and we rely on them for referrals and emergency intervention. We meet together regularly to build relationships.

CONNECT MEETINGS	Q 1	Q 2 (CUMULATIVE)	AVERAGE PER SCHOOL
SESSIONS	50	82	3
PARTICIPANTS	231	394	14

5. Therapeutic Interventions (Support Keepers)

OBJECTIVES:

a safe space where learners can receive therapeutic support to reduce the negative impact of challenges
clients who are supported and assisted when reporting a statutory case

CHALLENGES:

Working with children experiencing trauma is demanding work, the heightened anxiety of parents, teachers and learners adds to this demand. We practice the same self-care that we advocate.

One of the on-going challenges remains ‘no-show’ clients for therapy sessions which could be due to absenteeism, shifting timetables or a last-minute shift in learner rotation. Our therapists work hard to iron out these issues in order to offer the learners the best opportunity to receive the help they need and to make best use of our time. Meticulous records are kept and patterns are tracked in order to try and resolve these lost opportunities.

We offer on-site therapeutic intervention (usually a series of 6 weekly sessions) for learners, one on one or in small support groups.

THERAPY	Q 1	Q 2 (CUMULATIVE)	AVERAGE PER SCHOOL
SIZE OF SCHOOL	25 230	26 100	900
% OF LEARNERS IN THERAPY	6.6%	8.5%	8.5%
SESSIONS	5 215.75	9 267.35	320
AVERAGE SESSIONS PER CHILD	3	4.1	4.1
CLIENTS	1 671	2 237	77
MALE	757	998	34
FEMALE	913	1 238	43
NON-BINARY	1	1
SELF-REFERRED	655	893	31
% OF SELF REFERRALS	39%	40%	40%
RE-REFERRALS	116	148	5.1
WAITING LIST	1 145	867	30
AWAITING PARENTAL CONSENT > AGE 12	150	186	6.4

Waiting lists are scrutinised at regular intervals and added resources are allocated where needed. Triage and check-ins are done frequently to ensure that no learner who needs urgent help gets lost in an administrative bottleneck.

Our therapists routinely record the initial referral reason when a client presents and then the actual referral reason on conclusion of therapy. These patterns, in turn, inform the preventative interventions that we plan for each school. Below are the top eight referral reasons recorded during 2021 YTD.

Initial Referral Reason	Actual Referral Reason
1. Relationship between parent/guardian and child	1. Relationship between parent/guardian and child
2. Stress	2. General guidance
3. General guidance	3. Grief
4. Trauma	4. Stress
5. Grief	5. Trauma
6. Anger / tantrums	6. Relationship between parents/guardians
7. (Mis) conduct at school	7. Anger / tantrums
8. Illness (other)	8. General anxiety

Clients complete a pre- and post- evaluation with our therapist. These comments are shared with permission:

“Dit is altyd so lekker hier by juffrou. Ek geniet dit altyd hier.”

“I learned that it does not matter what others think about you.”

A success story involves a learner whose basic needs were not met by her father and who was abused. I started conducting sessions with her 2-3 times per week as she was traumatised and in an emotional state every time she came to school. The client was referred to ACVV and removed from her father’s care. The client appears happy, always smiling now, very talkative, excited about her future and where they’re going to live.

A grade 2 learner was referred by her teacher to Community Keepers for being withdrawn/shy. The learner recently moved to the area and started at a new school. It was observed that the learner was withdrawn, sat alone during breaks and also could not speak the school’s language of instruction because she is from a different country. She seemed to struggle to adjust to the new environment as she would talk about moving in the initial stages of the therapeutic process. It also seemed that she was afraid to engage with others because she was different. She was also experiencing some bullying at home from neighbours. In the sessions we spoke about the bullying through play, we also read some therapeutic stories on what to do when you are feeling lonely and sad. After some time, the client now states that she enjoys school, her mom mentioned that she even cries when she can’t come to school. She has made more friends; I observe her playing with friends during break and she feels confident to engage in class. Her teacher also reported that she got full marks for reading in isiXhosa, she did better than learners who have isiXhosa as their home language. Her parents stated that they are happy to know there is someone at the school that their child can speak to. This success story would not be possible without the collaborative effort of the client, the parents who supported her and the teacher who referred her.

New (Additional) Service – a Covid Response

Digitally accessed therapy (via telephone or video call)

DIGITALLY ACCESSED THERAPY	Q 1	Q 2 (CUMULATIVE)	AVERAGE PER SCHOOL
SESSIONS / CALLS	2 463	3 464	119
CLIENTS	1 524	2 176	75
MINUTES SPENT	17 840.5	25 076.5	865
AVERAGE TIME PER CALL	7.2 min	7.2 min	7.2 min
UNSUCCESSFUL eg CALL NOT ANSWERED	1 561	2 394	83

From January until June 2021 we have spent 417 hours on telephone/video-call support to over 2 000 clients, which translates to 52 8-hour days of ‘talk time’. Airtime, data, cell phones and laptops are immediate needs to enable us extend this service.

We extend our sincere thanks to our funders who invest in this work, the schools who work hand in hand and our therapists who are always available to listen, comfort and encourage.

Note: A detailed breakdown of our figures, per school, is sent to our funders and is available on request.

Footnote:

Belfer, 2008; Finning et al., 2019; Giel et al., 1981; Patel et al., 2007; Rescorla et al., 2007; Wickersham et al., 2019
Ames & Leadbeater, 2018; Patel et al., 2007; Yu et al., 2017