DSWD: LGUs Should Be First Responders in Reaching Out to Street Dwellers

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Region 7 clarified the role of DSWD, Local Government Units (LGUs), and other stakeholders in reaching out to street children.

According to Kerwin Macopia, Information Officer for DSWD-7 Listahanan, the LGUs have the primary responsibility in the delivery of health and welfare services and the implementation of programs and projects for children, primary health care, maternal and child care, etc., based on Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991.

Moreover, the role of the LGUs, through their City or Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (C/MSWDO) is to be the first responders by reaching out and profiling street dwellers based on the Protocol to Reach Out to Street Children published by the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), added Macopia.

DSWD-7 Regional Director Ma. Evelyn Macapobre said they have been receiving reports from the media and in their official social media accounts regarding street children.

“We constantly forward these concerns to the concerned LGU. The LGU is the frontline service provider of social welfare and development services and are in the best position to know and address the needs of their people,” said Macapobre.

Aside from the City/Municipal Social Welfare & Development Officer (C/MSWDO), other key offices are the Philippine National Police (PNP), City and Municipal Health Office, Barangay Council for the Protection of Children as well as Non-Government Organizations or faith-based groups.

“The role of DSWD is to provide further technical assistance and capacity building to LGUs and other stakeholders in implementing programs and services for street children,” she added.

Last year, DSWD-7 replicated the Comprehensive Program for Street Children, Street Families and Indigenous Peoples, especially to Sama-Bajaus in Cebu City in partnership with the Cebu City Government through the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) which was first implemented in the National Capital Region (NCR) in 2011.

The program aims to develop income-generating opportunities and skills training for children and their families to prevent them from working on the streets, creates activity centers where they could have life skills trainings and literacy activities, and provides shelter assistance for them to permanently leave the streets and to eventually gain access to basic social services.

This is an on-going project and is also being replicated in other highly urbanized cities where there is high prevalence of street children and street families.

Aside from Region 7, other identified regions to implement the program are Regions 3, 4-A, 5, 6 and 11.

“We are appealing to all sectors in society, including the media and the general public, to contribute in addressing the problem of street dwellers,” Macapobre said.

“Along with the rest of the national government agencies in Region 7, we, in DSWD recognize the urgency of responding to the situation of street children and street families affecting the urban areas here in the region,” added Macapobre. (rmn/jsme/PIA7-Cebu with DSWD7 report)