Lack of funds hurts outreach to street kids

Lack of funds hurts outreach to street kids

TANGERANG (JP): Fund constraints prevent Tangerang regency
from assisting the vast majority of children panhandling on local
streets, a leading social services official admitted on Friday.

Just 50 of the 535 street children registered with the office
could undergo rehabilitation programs annually, chief of the
regency's social service office Teddy Djarkasih said.

The number of the children is increasing as the economic
crisis persists, he added. They eke out a living by singing at
traffic lights, selling newspapers or working as shoeshine kids
at restaurants or bus terminals.

"We don't have new data on the street children who range in
age from seven to 21 years. Their mobility is very high," he
said.

According to the office's data, 175 of the registered children
had studied at elementary school, 35 in junior high school and
four in high school.

The remaining 321 have never received any formal education.

Teddy said the 50 children involved in his office's
rehabilitation program participated in training courses for
informal sector jobs, such as selling merchandise and learning
how to repair motorcycles.

"The training course on how to conduct business is held in
Balaraja, while the one on motorcycle repair in Sepatan."

Balaraja trainees receive T-shirts and a stipend from the West
Java provincial budget to start them off in business. Sepatan
program participants are provided with tool kits.

"Six trainees have worked at motorcycle repair shops in the
city," he said.

Putting the street children on the straight and narrow despite
funding problems is also faced by Hapid Effendi, head of the
Tangerang mayoralty, which is located closer to the boundary with
Jakarta.

Hapid said the most recent data at his office put the number
of street children at 206, although the actual number is probably
much greater.

He said his office was conducting another count but "their
mobility is so high because most of them are newcomers from other
cities".

Due to funding limitations, only 10 street children are
involved in the social service office's rehabilitation program.

Both Hapid and Teddy said they were unaware of the total
funding provided to help the children because it was provided by
the central government.

"I don't know the amount of funds because my job is just
following instructions set by the central government," Teddy
said.

The two officials expressed concern over the lack of authority
invested in the offices to directly handle their programs for
street children.

In line with the rising demand for more bureaucratic autonomy
from the central government, they believed it time to entrust the
management of such programs to the regional administrations.

Areas identified as having large numbers of street children
are located near new business centers and include Pamulang,
Serpong, Balaraja and Cikupa. (41/hhr)