Citing the distressing plight of homeless children in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, particularly in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Quezon City 5th District Rep. Alfred Vargas has filed a bill in the House of Representatives seeking to create a Street Children Crisis Center Program.
In House Bill 9783, Vargas, chairman of the House Committee on Social Services, said the proposed program will cover “all persons below 18 years of age who are inadequately protected or supervised by adults and for whom the streets, including unoccupied dwellings and wasteland, have become their home and source of income.”
Among other services, the crisis center will provide emergency medical and feeding programs, as well as serve as temporary shelter for street children, where they can get basic educational, legal and counsel services.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development will be tasked to implement the program in close coordination with the concerned local government units, the bill said.
Also under the proposed law, the street children crisis center will provide rehabilitation program for those identified as substance abusers, as well as livelihood, technical and social skills training, and will serve as referral network of assistance in the monitoring of support system provided by LGUs.