Need-Based Street Children Management in Surakarta City of Central Java Province of Indonesia

Abstract

The objective of research is to find out the characteristics of street children, the cause of children becoming street children, and the management of street children problems in Surakarta City. As the marginalized and alienated children from the hard environment of city, the some street children living and working in the street, work in the street but still return back to their parents’ home everyday, then some of them work in the street and return back to their origin once in 1 – 3 months and the problematic street adolescents disperse in a variety of certain zones because of poverty, domestic violence, parents’ encouragement, and children’s environmental factor. The management of street children is determined by the need and problem the street children is facing whether using street based with street literacy, centre based and re-socialization through the open house for street children as well as community based approaches by conducting activity and advocacy on the street children problems involving all potencies of society. In fact, the approaches above are overlapping. The most important point is our empathy and commitment to manager the street children problem.