Reactive, Protective and Rights-Based Approaches in Work with Homeless Street Youth

Abstract

Homeless children on the streets are one of the most disadvantaged sectors of urban youth. Their circumstances leave them without access to many of their human rights and excluded from mainstream society. Policies that affect these young people can range from broad-based to targeted initiatives- each brings advantages and disadvantages. This paper distinguishes three basic approaches that cut across this typology and describes how governments view and treat homeless street children. There are three main governmental approaches: reactive, protective and rights-based. The distinguishable impacts of each type of policy on the lives of homeless children who live in the streets are drawn out in this paper. Broad-based initiatives within a rights-based governmental approach, into which targeted initiatives by civil society can be integrated, seem a potentially effective combination for including homeless street children as participants in the wider society.