Street children and youth
Moscow's railway station children: NAN Foundation's experience in working with homeless children living at Moscow railway stations. An overview of problems hampering organization of work with youth at risk
Assisting homeless children: practical programme advice and data from Russia
Authors:
O.V. Zykov, (ed); L.A. Goncharova (ed)
Publisher:
Consortium for Street Children , 2006
This collection of papers provides practical advice on working with street children by sharing the experience of developing an outreach programme for homeless children in Moscow. Throughout, the report illustrates children’s experiences with case studies and quotes.
The first paper describes the lessons learned by NAN social workers as they developed experience in providing outreach services for children living in Moscow’s railway stations. It describes some of the practical problems workers will face in dealing with children who may lie and steal from them, notes key elements that should be incorporated into the training of outreach workers, and suggests how workers might best approach and gain the trust of children, negotiate solutions with families, and deal with medical issues.
The second chapter of the report presents detailed findings from surveys of homeless children in Moscow. The results include information on the reasons for children’s homelessness and their current circumstances, the children’s level of education, efforts to obtain work and sources of income, and their experiences of abuse.
The report also offers a critical review of different approaches used by government and non-government organisations to address the issue of homeless and neglected children in Russia, highlighting problems in standard government approaches.
The report concludes with a guide to non-government organisations that work to address child homelessness in Moscow, including a description of services provided, eligibility criteria and approaches, and contact details.
