Residents urged not to give money to street youth
Anne Slatter, a director of a Durban-based homeless shelter, explains how assisting them in their work to help homeless youth will go a long way towards taking kids off the streets.
THE director of Durban-based homeless shelter iCare, Anne Slatter, is urging local residents to refrain from giving money to young people living on the streets.
“I would like to appeal to Durban residents to not give street youth money. It is a good idea to give them a future by donating to iCare, an NPO working with street youth on the streets of Durban and surrounding areas. Giving money or anything else will only exacerbate the issue and keep them on the streets and continuing to seek help,” Slatter pleads as we observe World Homeless Day on October 10 annually.
Also read: Durban harbour ignites interest in learners
She outlines that their Child and Youth Care Centre (CYCC) houses rehabilitated street children who are unable to live at home for various reasons, and most are placed via co08urt orders. “There is a process to get to our residential care. Firstly, we would need to know that they are classified as living and working on the streets. And then, they need to spend a short time at our Drop-in Centre while we find out who they are, why they are there and where they are [situated on the street]. Because of their ages, we need to try to establish who their guardians are and if we have permission to take them in,” she says.
Slatter says the centre takes in children from 6–18 years old and young adults up to 23 years old. She further explains, “We are specifically working for street youth. We do not have a Phase 1 overnight shelter facility. Anyone entering our residential facilities will meet the criteria of either being placed by court order or a child in need of protection from the streets.”
When asked about the challenges facing the shelter, Slatter reveals that homeless shelters are costly to run, and the relationships that the children have with families are challenging. “We endeavour to reunify families, and a great amount of time and work is required in the interventions we need to make. We work according to the Norms and Standards as laid down in the Children’s Act. The Department of Social Development (DSD) conducts the visits and audits on our residential facilities. The Drop-in Centre is run in the same way, but is not funded by DSD,” she says.
Also read: Children more at risk of human trafficking
The director says that all children in the centre are placed in local schools, and after-school support is offered to each child. She admitted that they offer substance abuse counselling in the centre. “This is covered in our restoration programme when a child first enters our residential facility. We have a 12-week programme in which we endeavour to renew, restore and rebuild the child. We have social workers who give counselling and other psychosocial interventions required,” says Slatter.
She advises homeless people who need help to meet their outreach workers on the streets, or they can come directly to their Drop-in Centre in Windermere, Durban.
For more from Berea Mail, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok.
Click to subscribe to our newsletter – here
