36 Moscow's ram wav station children
WORKING WITH YOUTH AT RISK" series. Issue II)
for earning daily bread. On the other hand, the rigidity of state-run
institutions leads to repeated escapes and the understanding that "you
can't change anything and your opinion doesn't matter". This in turn
leads to distrust and sometimes to hatred of the adult world and a belief
that all you have to do is survive until you are 18 and then everything
will change. Alas, by the time the child turns 18, his system of values
will be so distorted that it will leave him no chance for re-socialization.
Newcomers on the street who are looking for a job (collection of
empty bottles, goods handling, etc.) can't get it officially because
any employer must report them to the police or custody authorities
who are required to return the runaway to the place he escaped from.
At the same time, living on the street, they see their comrades who
-steal for a living) making more money) and regard any assistance to
lhem as granted. Due to their age, even the children with no traumatic
experience like domestic violence or loss of a parent display a
very low resistance level to the reference group values. Sooner or
later, the child accepts this way of life while violence and inertia only
speed up the process. Besides, these children live in an asocial environment
which has NO MENTORS capable of explaining that stealing
is bad not because you are likely to end up in a prison but
because it's BAD. In addition, street children distrust adults too
much to believe their moralizing.
In fact, the child has to make a choice: put up with violence and
return to the place he ran away from or live as an outlaw. Living on
"welfare" looks appealing: "I can get free food and clothing and'I can
do whatever 1 fancy". Unfortunately, the child has a very' vague idea of
WHAT he actually WANTS. Given that dependence on chemical substances
altering the state of mind is prevalent among the street children
and comes for granted, the teenager sooner or later starts using
I hem which only accelerates the degradation process.
hi the course of the joint project. Kvartal rehabilitation center has
provided assistance to 12 homeless children referred to the center by
>ireet workers from both organizations ( NAN Foundation and MSF).
Thanks to the cooperation with MSF, our people were able to
establish a trust-based contact with the groups of homeless children.
The children had an opportunity to get acquainted with the rehabili- tation environment stall from the NAN Foundation which made possible
to better motivate the children to undergo an inpatient treatment
course.
Another positive aspect is that the MSI' and NAN Foundation
experts can provide a social follow-up on a given child during the
treatment course and after its completion.
Of the 7 teenagers undergoing the rehab course at Kvartal, 2 took
a complete course while another 5 stayed at the center for fairly long.
One of them (with the MSF assistance) later found a job. Three
teenagers received assistance at the Path to Home shelter.
We are sure that positive results can be only ensured by a stageby-
stage structure and close links between all the rehabilitation environment
components.
Assistance should be diversified. The basic goal is not encouraging
the welfare mentality but helping the teenager to find its place in
society.
We believe that joint activities of various bodies of authority would
prove very' useful. The rehabilitation environment should be comprised
of the following stages:
• Street work
Daytime center(low-threshold center)
Social lodging house
• Shelter
Employment service
Foster parents' school
• Psychological and social advice to biological parents
Street work: social work on the streets of Moscow is currently carried
out by the M S I ; social service and social workers from the NAN
Foundation. The city's Street Children center which was actually
established for that purpose doesn't do any real social work. Anyway,
we have never seen any member of the Street Children center on a
field assignment although we regularly ran into p e o p l e from other
organizations helping the homeless (like the Charily Fund, Active
Assistance to Children, and Salvation Army).
M O M (IVV'S mi I W W S T A T I O N CHILDREN
WORKING Willi YOl Til AT RISK" series. Issue III
Low-threshold daytime center: is meant both for actual and
potential runaways. Apart from the MSF daytime center, there exists
a number of low-threshold clubs (state-run and non-government)
although these, being situated in Moscow's residential neighborhoods,
focus on neglected children. Besides, the number is too small
to accommodate all the street children.
Lodging houses for homeless children: This should be a place
where a child who, while tired of living on the street but not yet ready
to go to an orphanage, could spend a few nights knowing that he won't
be locked up nor sent back to where he ran away from. Controlling
their behavior would be difficult but obviously staying at the house
would do less harm to the child as compared to staying on the street.
Besides, this way the girls would stand a better chance of not getting
involved into prostitution. It may be worthwhile to specify the condition
that the lodging house is only open for those kids who regularly
visit the daytime center (to have classes and see the psychologist). Го-
date, no lodging houses of this kind are available in the city.
Shelters: Today there are at least 12 shelters in Moscow, all affiliated
to the Department of social protection. The admittance procedure
IN strictly regulated: a homeless child first must have a physical checkup
at a specially designated children's clinic. However, the clinics
don't provide any psychological support while the children's freedom
of movement is severely restricted. As a result, the children run away
hack to the street. The only shelter in Moscow welcoming street children
is the Path to I lome shelter.
Employment service: A closer contact with employment agencies
has to be maintained. It would be reasonable to give the target audience
an opportunity to become legitimate — have a job, even if lowpaid,
and a place to live. (The shelters also should maintain contacts
with educational institutions having own hostels).
Foster parents' school: Should be set up at each institution (an
orphanage or a shelter) taking care of parentless children with the purpose
of adopting these children by foster parents. These programs are
currently being implemented only in 2 or 3 of the city's shelters.
Psychological and social advice to parents: The main job of this
мал ice would be prevention of family break-ups and prevention of kids' running away from problem families. Currently these functions are to
be performed by the state bodies in charge of custody, commissions for
juvenile affairs and protection of minors' rights. In actual fact, what
these bodies are doing now is only retroactive response to the fact of a
family break-up, the child's running away or physical abuse.
Social workers from various organizations and rehabilitation
environment levels have no idea about any other bodies doing the
same job. While cooperation between the NAN Foundation and
MSF has continued for a lew years, this project became the first
opportunity for the Foundation's staff to work with homeless children
on the street. Our offers to undergo a rehab course initially met
an ironic response from the children. Many children became sullen
or rude upon hearing of the word '"clinic" (Kvartal's). The first
teenagers admitted to Kvartal were totally unprepared to comply
with the center's regime and usually stayed at the in-patient department
for no more than 2-3 days. They refused to continue the treatment
and left, however, they quickly spread the word about the center
that doesn't force the children to stay. For homeless children (as
probably for anyone else) it's important to know that they would
not be forced to do something even for their own good. You can 7
force people to happiness.
The biggest obstacle for the project turned out to be the activity of
state and municipal bodies of authority responsible for providing assistance
to homeless children. Many children reported thai they had
escaped from orphanages because of maltreatment and violence.
Homeless children picked up on the street are sent to clinics lor disinfection
and medical checkup only to be later sent to an orphanage or a
shelter. Very often the children don't wait until the orphanage and
escape from the clinic because medical treatment doesn't comprise
any rehab components needed by the children who view their stay at
the clinic as grounding with a perspective to be sen! back to where
they have already escaped from. A closed character oi these institutions,
the absence of public control, and the lack o| reliable statistics
make monitoring of their activities difficult.
The children themselves view their clinic experieiiee very negatively.
Even if a child consents to an orphanage, he would do anything to
in Mi IV i iVV \ RAM WAV sI VI 1c >\ CIIII.DRHN
"WORKING WITH YOUTH AT RISK" series. Issue III
stay away from the clinic. This fear is caused by a negative and even
aggressive attitude to homeless children by the medical staff.
Overall concept: Ideally, all the organizations involved in the
process must have a general understanding of the rehabilitation environment,
the homelessness phenomenon and other conditions they
have to face. If psychoactive substance abuse is currently perceived as a
malady by one authority and as laxity — by another, we are going to have
a corresponding public attitude towards the children and their parents.
No child should be placed into a child care institution without his
consent, at least, that should apply to all children aged over I I years.
Today, nobody is interested in the teenager's opinion, he is automatically
sent to a corresponding local institution without even an attempt
to analyze the reasons for his repeated escapes from there. This is a
violation of the minor citizen's rights (of which he is unaware).
STORIES
Anya, 15 years, Moscow.
We met her nearby Alckseevskaya subway station.
— Have you been here long?
— A third year.
— Why?
— Mom is a heavy drinker...
The mother is an alcoholic deprived of her parent rights. Anya has
a sister who lives at another orphanage (the girls are registered in different
districts and were placed in different orphanages).
This is not the first Anya's escape from a child care institution.
Having escaped, she mostly lives on the street although sometimes
she does visit home to take a shower. She is reluctant to speak of her
life. Her requests are more like demands. It appears that she regards
every adult as a milk-cow. Whenever her requests are turned down,
she is greatly offended and seems to be sincere about it.
Yura, 16 years, Moscow.
Been staying on the street lor almost 3 years. The family is large but
the mother was deprived of parent rights due to alcoholism. Been to an orphanage several times but thinks of everybody involved in his orphanage
plight as enemies. Proudly speaks of his escapes and living on the
street. Has been a patient at clinic #6, Tushino and Morozovskaya
clinics, of which speaks negatively. A rare visitor to the children's center
believing the atmosphere there is dull and requires one to be sober.
- No big deal!
Suffers from chemical dependency (inhales glue vapors, often uses
other chemicals). Towards the end of the project, was sentenced to a
time in prison for stealing.
Slava, 16 years, Moscow
The parents are divorced. I las good manners, stands out from the
rest of the children. Been on and off the street for almost 3 years,
recently has been staying on the street longer.
- Your parents are worried about you'?
- I come home. Sometimes...(smiling)
- Why don't you bee id home'?
- They don't need me anyway, they scream at me all the time.
All they do to keep me happy is giving me money.
According to other teenagers, Slava used to often turn up with gifts
from his parents like roller skates or a bike. Recently has been using
psychoactive substances on a regular basis. Developing apathy, several
times was seen nursing a hangover. Doesn't want to go to the clinic,
believing he can kick the habit any time.
Olesya, 13 years, Moscow region.
Ran away from an orphanage several times together with her twin
brother. Has a stepfather, mother and grandmother. The mother is an
ex-alcoholic with a criminal record. The girl reports having been
abused by the parents, her brother confirms that. The mother says she
only disciplines her when the girl runs away from home and that her
disciplining involves no physical abuse (just grounding).
With the help of the elder brother, we managed to convince the girl
to return home. A week later, she was again seen at Kursky railway
station (without her brother). Quickly joined a baud of older boys.
Thinks of them as her brothers, obviously looking lor parental attitude.
Both the girl and her family require long term psychological guidance.
12 M( ISI ( IVV s KVIIVV W sI VIK IN CHILDREN
"WORKING WITH YOUTH AT RISK" series. Issue 10
WHAT NEXT?
Who is working with the railway stations' children?
During their field assignments, our social workers did come across
other non-government organizations helping homeless children:
The Salvation Army regularly dispenses food and clothing. It also
runs a weekend summer camp immensely popular with the kids.
The MSF is involved in pedagogical and psychological activity
aimed at teenagers' adaptation. Active Assistance to Children provides
food, tries to motivate the children to seek assistance and refers them
to orphanages and clinics.
The Russian Orthodox Church provides a special "social bus service"
to dispense food and provide medical assistance.
There's a rumor of a certain individual, an ex-street kid himself,
who has become a rich businessman. This person reportedly provides
lood for Moscow's homeless children on a regular basis. Since we have
never met him personally, there's no evidence confirming the existence
of this person.
We also have information that Monar, a Polish charity organization,
acting jointly with the organization called Active Assistance to
Children is planning to set up a Moscow-based low-threshold center
for supporting homeless children. We have met with representatives of
these organizations and agreed to cooperate in the future.
According to the Health Care Department, apart from the already
mentioned clinics (DGKB # 2 1 , Tushino Children's Municipal Clinic
and Morozovskaya Children's Municipal Clinic), the department
operates 6 specialized mobile teams whose task is dealing with homeless
children. However, social workers from the NAN Foundation
have never seen any of these mobile teams; probably they are involved
in transporting the children from police stations to hospitals and from
hospitals to orphanages.
According to the I lealth Care Department, in 2005, the Moscowbased
medical institutions have treated 7517 homeless and neglected
children. Of these, 6565 were hospitalized. Geographically, these children
came from: • Moscow - 28.5"о
• Moscow region - 13.9°,,
• Other Russian regions — 22.8%
• CIS and other foreign countries — 34.8%
After medical examination and treatment, the children were sent to:
Custody institutions — 44.8"<>
• To their parents (in accordance with the established procedure) —
50.5%
To specialized medical institutions (tuberculosis and narcological
dispensaries, surgical and infectious hospitals) — 4.7%
Problems. Change in needs
The main problem encountered during the study of street children
was their initial reluctance to communicate with someone they don't
know (people from the NAN foundation). It took some time before the
children got accustomed to the Foundation's social workers so that
they could conduct their survey with more efficiency.
Other problems emerged when, upon leaving the MSI'daytime center,
the children were forwarded to the NDA Foundation's shelter and
rehabilitation center. The first cases of the children (who had consented
to receiving rehab assistance) sent to the Foundation's child care institutions
indicated that the children have trouble coming to terms with the
local conditions and tend to leave after the first conflict. The reasons were
identified after a review of the situation conducted jointly with the MSF
experts: the children had not received enough information on the internal
regulations in force at the Foundation's institutions. Accustomed to freedom,
they were not ready to comply with the regulations, were hying to
set their own rules. It was decided that the children have to receive more
information on the Foundation's child care institutions (the shelter and
rehabilitation center) before their admittance from the Foundation's
workers who would then accompany the kids to the institution. It was
also decided that the Foundation's social workers would organize psychotherapeutic
sessions for the railway children attending the .MSI'daytime
center. This would be an additional motivation loi the ehildren and
ensure trust between the kids and the Foundation's social workers. The
11 Ml >si i )VV S IOIIVV W s I VI К l\ CHILDREN
WORKING WITH YOUTH AT RISK" series. Issue III
latest events ( behavior of the children recently admitted to Kvartal rehabilitation
center) indicated that the situation has changed for the better.
External factors
During field assignments at the railway stations and adjacent territories,
we did not anticipate that the police would gladly cooperate
with the social workers. However, neither the police nor the railway
stations' staff never caused any problem and ensured our free passage
to the territory (upon presentation of social worker ID cards issued by
the Foundation).
The police normally chase homeless children off their beat or book
I hem in case of any obvious misdemeanor.
Bottom line: none of existing government or поп-government organizations
are in a systemic way addressing the issue of homeless children.
What next?
Violation oi children's rights is a most pressing issue for Russia.
This violation and the lack of the right's protection mechanism are the
primary cause for the emergence of street children. While this topic
юн which the NAN Foundation has been working since 1002) falls
outside the scope of this document, it should be noted that at present
we continue working on restoration of Russia's juvenile justice system
and have already made considerable progress.
An Extract from the 2005 MSF Report
"hi recent years, a sufficient number of social shelters ready to
lake care ol homeless and neglected children have been established in
Moscow. In addition, there emerged a system (the police — the hospilal
— the shelter) responsible for provision of assistance and children's
distribution to social institutions. However, the results of the MSFlimded
program for assisting homeless children and teenagers that
has been in operation since 2003 indicate that some of the children living
on the street fall outside the scope of the activities carried out by
the Moscow City Government. This can be explained by the absence
ol a systematic street work (regular 2-3 week field assignments normally
performed by teachers college undergraduates on a vocational
practice can not achieve the desired effect). Homeless children are unable or unwilling to make contact with the adult world. In addition,
they are frequently unaware of the opportunities they have regarding
medical and social assistance.
There exists a network of well-equipped and operating social shelters
for homeless and neglected children, there are hospitals providing
medical examinations and treatment. BUT this infrastructure has NO
outreach to the street children. The only link between the children and
these institutions is provided by the police whose basic job is dealing
with crime rather than doing social work.
Street work has proved its effectiveness in many countries, including
Russia. Most often, social projects are initiated by N(i( )s and supported
by the government. As of today, the government bodies are
unable to carry out permanent social work since the position of a street
social worker is yet to be included into the official payroll list.
Moscow's first project — Moscow Street Children — was launched in
1997 by the NAN Foundation and the Humanitarian Association
Fquilibre (France) with the .support of UNICEF. Despite positive outputs,
the project was discontinued in 1998 due to reasons beyond the
organizers' control.
The MSF experience in Moscow shows that if the work with
homeless children starts within their environment (on the street) and
is continued at the Daytime Center, the re-socialization process can
encompass older teenagers currently untended by the social workers
(more than 7 5% of all homeless children admitted to Moscow's institutions
are under 15 years old. At the same time, up to 81)",, of all
street veterans are senior teenagers aged 15-17 years).
The program's outputs enhance the efficiency of measures aimed
at prevention of children neglect and homelessness, criminalization
and drug abuse among minors.
This program prepares factual basis (model) for s e l l i n g up a system
(systematic street work and Daytime Center), providing an outreach
to the homeless child and a link to his relatives, s o c i a l (medical)
institutions and society in general".
We appreciate the dedication and support s h o w n by all MSF staff
in the course of the project's implementation and h o p e that o u r partner
relationship will be continued.
Hi : iN i IIII.DREN
WORKING WITH YOl "I'll AT RISK" M I L S K M , , - III
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
Children and Teenagers' Polls w i t h i n the Framework
of the Moscow Railway Children Program
By: Anna Solouieva
The purpose ol the exercise was to identify correlations between
the children's social and physiological characteristics and define criteria
tn assess the probability of re-socialization for h o m e l e s s and neglected
children.
The analysis has used polling data received from 159 children (71
of these being homeless and the remaining88 — neglected children).
The respondents were broken into three groups depending on their
dependency on psychoactive substances.
The group with a strong chemical dependency is comprised of children
indulging in continuous pathological use of psychoactive substances.
Overall duration of their normal state of mind is less than that
in the altered state.
The group with a moderate chemical dependency is comprised of
children who use the psychoactive substances 1 -2 times a week.
The children with a prevailing normal state of mind (who use psychoactive
substances 3 times a month or less ) were put into the group
with a minor chemical dependency.
Each of the above groups was divided in two subgroups: some of
Ihe teenagers were willing to change something in their lives, other
were not. Overall, that made 6 groups of teenagers. Social characteristics
were assessed by 27 objective and subjective parameters derived
n«mi the responses in the questionnaire (Table 1 ).
Single-value parameters were expressed as a percentage. Tor
example, the teenager's gender is a single-value parameter because a
given teenager can either be a boy or a girl. To calculate the percentage
ol girls in the sample, their number was divided on the total sample
quantity (i.e. 159 teenagers). Multiple parameters were described
as ratings. For example, one teenager uses only alcohol, another uses alcohol and chemical substances, while yet another -- a variety ol psychoactive
substances. The use of psychoactive substances is a multiple
parameter. To calculate popularity of, say, alcohol, the number of
teenagers using alcohol was divided on the number of all psychoactive
substances being used (which has got to be much more than 159
because some teenagers use two or more substances) and multiply
these by 100.
Table I. Social Characteristics of Street Children Using the correlation analysis method, we have identified nine
most significant parameters. The significance of a given parameter
was assessed by the number of reliable (p<0.05) correlations with
i '1 her parameters (Table 2 ). The above nine factors are in fact criteria of the child's social
adaptability. Diagram in Fig. 1 shows the correlation between these
criteria. We identified six closely inter-related factors contributing to
children's de-socialization. These form a vicious circle difficult to
break through. The longer children stay on the street, the more
chances of their having trouble with the law, the greater I heir activity
to try finding some "solace" and "resolve" all problems with psychoactive
substances, the more estrangement from the parents, the
more frequently they are subjected to forced "help" from state-run
medical institutions, from where they flee, unable to bear the humiliation,
and become outlaws again. The cycle is complete. Strange as it
may seem, part of this vicious circle is formed by some charity institutions
which, instead of encouraging children's re socialization
through various rehabilitation programs and breaking the vicious circle,
limit their activity to provision of free f o o d , clothing and medical
50 Mi )S( o\V S HAIIWU M VI ION CHILDREN
"WORKING WITH VOI'III AT RISK" series. Issue in
Pig I. Inter-relation of Children's Social Adaptability Criteria
% of children
having legal