SocSc 14 Advocacy Paper Part 2
SocSc 14 Advocacy Paper Part 2
SocSc 14 Advocacy Paper Part 2
The Philippines already have sound laws that could address the vulnerability of street
children and their lack of a loving and nurturing environment. Under these laws, victims of
any type of abuse, whether physical, emotional and psychological, or sexual, have the
protection of government interventions and are given rehabilitation care and necessities. As
of 2019, there are 75 Bahay Pag-asa centers in the Philippines. 72 of which are runned by
LGU, and the rest are operated by NGOs. Only a few of these centers are accredited. The
lack of implementation, resources, transparency, and compliance of youth centers such as
the Bahay Pag-asa are some of the current and rampant problems in these youth centers
(Jalea, 2019). Furthermore, programs are in need of reformation at a community level.
Community-level Reformation
When children are brought to youth centers, they are entitled by law to receive
lodging and food facilities, livelihood and skills training, as well as educational assistance
among other things. However, children may experience further abuse from the other children
in the center. As soon as they arrive in the facilities, they need to learn how to get along with
the other kids. The paper would like to add that these children be trained for mentorship
programs or workshops in addition to their education. Just as there are mentors in each
school organization, there should be student-mentors that new kids in the center can confide
in and learn from.
Furthermore, during the completion of their education and residency, the paper would
like to propose social work programs to train selected children into better leaders. They will
be taught in basic theory and practice, skills in social analysis, research, advocacy, social
action and social legislation. The LGU youth centers will partner with other communities and
the participants will consult with their communities, and conduct interviews to ask what are
the problems in the community and how the people think it can be solved. Professionals will
be invited to speak about their respective field of expertise and their experiences. Another
option would be to partner with institutions (i.e churches), and with private organizations
whose social responsibility is inline with the center’s advocacy. The participants will be
expected to deliver an integrated output at the end of the session that summarizes what they
have learned in the program and their immersion in the community.
Labor Resources
Despite the growing number of youth centers, there is a lack of resources such as
personnel and facilities. Currently, each social worker in the Bahay-pagasa centers handles
a minimum of 25 children with regular cases, and there is a social worker for every 10 cases
of intensive intervention (Jalea, 2019). However, with the increase of street children and the
current minimum age responsibility, some social workers had to handle around 100 cases
each. The paper proposes that the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council (JJWC) partner with
schools and provide internships to graduate students, or any related course depending on
the job description. The JJWC and school will have to decide and agree on the training
modules, and an intensive interview should be conducted to curate future employees in
order to avoid problems. Interns will be on a probationary period with pay, if they fail they
can opt to retake the training and be tested again.
There is also an option to hire the children after their residency in the centers since
they have more empathy. The children who should be hired must have a relevant education
that can be applied to the benefit of the centers. Students who applied for livelihood and
skills training such as the Barangay Health Services, TVET, and ICT can increase the
manpower in the center (https://e-tesda.gov.ph/). At the end of their course, the students will
be required to finalize an output that will help improve the youth centers in relation to their
course. The internship for social work can be adjusted to the families of street children, and
they will undergo selection, training, and probationary periods with pay at the center. Apart
from working at the center, they can create their own organization and use what they learn to
improve awareness of issues in their communities.
Capacity Checklist
For Workshops
For Internships
For Transparency
Hochstadt, Z. (2013, March 15). On the Radio: Great Examples of Stories Bringing Life to
Complex Issues. Mission Minded. https://mission-minded.com/on-the-radio-great-examples-
of-stories-bringing-life-to-complex-issues/
https://e-tesda.gov.ph/