The growing number of children at-risk on the streets in the Philippines have long been a concern of the government. Various programs and services are currently being implemented but remain insufficient to alleviate the problem. Therefore, collaboration between the public and private sector is encouraged to help address the issue. More and more children are forced to live their lives in the streets due to social and economic factors such as overpopulation, urbanization, migration, and poverty. Such factors often have detrimental effects to their education which causes them to drop-out of school and start working at a young age to support themselves and their families.
Recent statistics show that there are more boys than there are girls living on the street. In Metro Manila, the ratio is 7:3. Most of these children belong to the 11 to 14-year-old age bracket. Urban migration, low wages, undeveloped countryside, increase in unemployment, and high crime rates reflect a depressed economy. Moreover, these factors also cause a deterioration in spiritual and moral values of the public. These expose the children to various risks and hazards. Ideally, the family should be able to nurture and develop the potential of its members. But as it weakens, the more prone to abuse and neglect the children become.
Residential Care
To respond to this problem, SPECS Foundation runs its Residential Care (ResCare) Center located at the heart of Pasay City. Through its ResCare Program, children are provided quality shelter assistance and healing interventions. One important feature of our ResCare Program is our target beneficiaries. At the moment, majority of the homes and shelters in the Philippines only cater to girls who have been abused, neglected, and/or exploited. Given the rising Child Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation (CANE) cases committed against young boys, SPECS has chosen to open their facility to this specific clientele. With the dearth of organizations providing quality care to these boys, the work we do is much needed in the sector.
Currently, the program is being implemented at a temporary shelter for at-risk boys aged 6-17 years old in Maricaban, Pasay City. The facility can accommodate up to 30 children at a time. More than a program, ResCare provides temporary shelter to children who find themselves in need of special protection. Through the program they are given food, clothing, medical and dental assistance, educational assistance, and psychosocial support to facilitate their healing and recovery. It is a place where a home life atmosphere is observed and is a conducive venue for their spiritual, physical, educational, emotional, cultural and social development.
Community Based
SPECS also implements community-based programs. We have a strong Educational Sponsorship Program (ESP) for over 420 students throughout Metro Manila and Cavite. Through the ESP, children and youth of poor and underprivileged families are assisted in their educational and developmental needs that usher them to become responsible and interdependent individuals who are able to help their families out of poverty and to become good leaders of society.
The Sponsored Child are assisted with school-related financial needs for tuition and/or miscellaneous fees, projects and transportation expenses, graduation fees, school shoes as well as materials like school supplies, uniforms, bags and material gifts as incentives to graduates and those who display excellence in the academic and extra curricular areas. Through developmental programs and services conducted for the sponsored children and their families an emphasis and great attention is given not only to an educational progress, but to a more well-balanced development of each individual, being able to sustain themselves spiritually, socially and culturally.
The Community and Outreach Program (COP) covers a wide range of projects and activities and aims to provide appropriate assistance in the organization, mobilization and empowerment of the community and its residents. We believe that when individual lives are restored in their four foundational relationships – their relationship with God, with self, others and the rest of creation - they are motivated to act in stepping out, be empowered to work and become active members of their community. We have feeding program in partnership with local government units (LGU's), income generating projects, including capacity building trainings.
The COP has 2 outreach approaches: (1) the center-based approach called Drop-In Center (DIC) and (2) the mobile outreach called “Whitey to the Rescue”. SPECS currently have two DIC's located in Angono and Parañaque City. The program beneficiaries are street children aged 0-17 coming from the community. The DIC serves as an alternative to street life. It is a place where street children and youth can find respite for a day. It accommodates 50 children at one time and allows them to avail of DIC facilities such as sleeping quarters, comfort rooms, kitchen, and an in-door activity room. Likewise, it intends to process the children within a period of 6 months and ultimately reunite them with their families or place them in appropriate agencies for their development. They can also continue to avail of other SPECS programs and services such as ResCare, ESP and income generating projects (IGP) as needed. Through the DIC, many at-risk children are being rescued and referred to other NGOs for proper case management. Some of these children are eventually transferred to their ResCare Center where they can be given 24/7 direct care and provided their basic needs and psychosocial support.
SPECS emphasizes that the care and love received by children in all these program translates to the kind of adults they will become. These children are future husbands and fathers, wife and mother, who will create their own families someday. Therefore, it is vital that they receive proper care and attention during their formative years to guide them and instill in them the right values and mindset. If they remain in a dark and extreme poverty state, there is a high possibility of them becoming perpetrators of abuse. Thus, it is imperative to break this cycle. Looking after the children of today will help ensure safe, loving, and nurturing families in the future.
A home where every child counts.