Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations

Abstract

In the concluding chapter the authors reiterate their definition of children in street situations, which includes homeless youth; who come from the developed world are equally divided by gender, likely to be abused and functioning poorly and street children from the developing world, 90 % of whom are street boys living much like the urban poor, and 10 % girls escaping abuse.

Problems of research with children in street situations included unclear definitions, non random samples, poor choices of data collection. We give examples to solve these problems, such as avoiding questionnaires, and using projective techniques. We explained the mental status exam and how it might be used.

There is a need for comparative research between children in street situations and their siblings at home or matched peers from the same circumstances. This would give us information on why children go to the streets. We also spoke about the lack of longitudinal data. This would give us information on the effects of street life on their development. We mentioned research that outlined developmental phases, which was needed to understand children in street situations as the moved from home to being non-domiciled to full engagement in street life.

The adaption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) meant that children rights went beyond the physical well being and became more like human rights. One problem is that the definition of children and their rights seem to encompass the Western model at the expense of different, but legitimate child rearing practices in other cultures. Enforcing the UNCRC presented a lot of problems as cultural differences made for many ethical and practical questions. We gave some examples of this.

The children’s rights movement has had some accomplishments in helping children in street situations get their legal rights. We out the problems of children in street situations with the human rights problems of other children at high risk and reviewed the arguments for more or less funding for children in street situations. We asked for programs to use empirical evidence for their applications and avoid interventions that were not supported by research.

We presented a public mental health model of three types of services, primary, secondary, and tertiary care. Each of the three can be divided into direct and direct services. The former is helping the recipient direct the latter is helping those who help them.

Primary care includes direct services to children in street situations, and indirect one to their families. Secondary mental health services focuses on children who are already in street situations and who need help. Direct care would be providing mental or physical services for this group, while indirect care who trains those who are providing the help. Tertiary care focuses on the larger issues of prevention and education. Direct tertiary strengthens communities and institutions that support children in street situations; indirect tertiary care educates teachers and others on how to prevent children from going into street situations. We call for more funding for tertiary care. We offers some examples to prevent burnout.