Long-term help to homeless children

To help the homeless children and young people in Russia, the first requirement is to relieve their everyday struggle to survive by providing food and shelter. Beyond this they need access to medical treatment for injuries, diseases and abuse of alcohol and drugs. Presently in Russia detoxification and associated medical treatment are free; beyond this, most available residential and out-patient services are carried out by private clinics being too expensive for most of the young people living in the streets.

Moreover the homeless children have deep needs beyond a roof, a cup of soup and  medical care. In order to have a chance to grow up like others they need to develop confidence in and respect for other people and themselves, to learn healthy lifestyle and social skills, and to be nurtured as they seek their path in life.

These psychological needs can best be met in settings away from urban centers where children can live under the supervision of grown-ups with professional backgrounds who also take direct individual interest in each child. These places emphasize the love, acceptance and security of a real home; and at the same time the activities and routines are scientifically rigorous, blending psychotherapy, work and leisure time activities in an approach that involves the children as partners in the process of their rehabilitation. This stimulates self-help and the motivation to stay in the therapy process; and at the same time it maintains the focus on the individual, shedding light on his/her needs. In social work a place like this is called a therapeutic community. These communities have existed for about 50 years in many countries*), and they have proven effective in rehabilitation and treatment of addicts. Experience in Poland shows that following an average stay of about a year in a therapeutic community, about 80 % of residents are reabsorbed into society and live a normal life.

*) For example Anton Makarenko developed a successful self-help based pedagogy for homeless    children in the 1920s following the Russian Civil War. Unfortunately Makarenko's ideas were     distorted during the Stalinist period. Today the method of therapeutic communities is a topic of    research and training in universities worldwide.