Prevalence,
Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the first decade of the 21st Century gvnet.com/streetchildren/USA.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the
situation in the HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspect(s) of street life are of particular
interest to you. You might be
interested in exploring how children got there, how they survive, and how
some manage to leave the street.
Perhaps your paper could focus on how some street children abuse the
public and how they are abused by the public … and how they abuse each
other. Would you like to write about
market children? homeless children? Sexual and labor exploitation? begging? violence? addiction? hunger? neglect? etc. There is a lot to the subject of Street
Children. Scan other countries as well
as this one. Draw comparisons between
activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. ***
FEATURED ARTICLES *** America's Forgotten
Children - Homeless and Street Youth Andreana Reeves, At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 9 August
2011] The average age of
a homeless person in the United States is nine, and there are many kids below
the age of nine on the streets, some with their families but most trying to
survive on their own. Currently there are 1.3 million homeless and
runaway street kids in the Street Children May 31st, 2006 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 9 August
2011] What It might be
shocking at first to consider the government supplying people with drugs, but
once you think about it, it’s very logical! It’s much healthier, because you don’t
have to worry about drug overdoses or injuries from puncturing the wrong
veins if a medical professional is doing it for you. There’s a dramatic
decrease in crime because if you are jailed, you are immediately taken off
the free treatment and you have to hustle for drugs. Employment increases
because these clinics also offer help in finding jobs. But most importantly,
you decrease drug users, because you put drug dealers out of business (since
the treatment is free) and the patients often want to take the next step to
rehabilitation. This drug policy is
much cheaper than the drug policy that the Invisible Child -
Girl in the Shadows: Dasani's Homeless Life Andrea Elliott, New
York Times, 2013 www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/invisible-child/?smid=fb-share#/?chapt=1 [accessed 9 Dec
2013] She wakes to the sound of breathing. The smaller children lie tangled
beside her, their chests rising and falling under winter coats and wool
blankets. A few feet away, their mother and father sleep near the mop bucket
they use as a toilet. Two other children share a mattress by the rotting wall
where the mice live, opposite the baby, whose crib is warmed by a hair dryer
perched on a milk crate. Dasani’s own neighborhood, Fort Greene, is now one of gentrification’s
gems. Her family lives in the Auburn Family Residence, a decrepit city-run
shelter for the homeless. It is a place where mold creeps up walls and
roaches swarm, where feces and vomit plug communal toilets, where sexual
predators have roamed and small children stand guard for their single mothers
outside filthy showers. It is no place for children. Yet Dasani is among 280 children at the
shelter. Beyond its walls, she belongs to a vast and invisible tribe of more
than 22,000 homeless children in New York, the highest number since the Great
Depression, in the most unequal metropolis in America. ***
ARCHIVES *** Runaways
- Where To Turn For Help Before You Are Homeless
- 1-800-621-4000 Rebeccas Community -- This is
for anyone aged up to 13 years old who is thinking about running away www.homeless.org.au/runaways.htm [accessed 9 August
2011] Here are the best
phone numbers to call …They are Confidential - which means they won't tell
anyone about your call unless you want them to talk to somebody for you, or
you are in danger. They are open 24
Hours - it doesn't matter what time you call.
In the Runaways KidsVoice, March 09, 2004 www.kidsvoiceorg.com/Guardian/Episodes.aspx?episode=date20040309 [accessed 9 August
2011] Most runaway
children do not realize the dangers of living on the streets. According to
the National Runaway Switchboard, 75% of runaways will become involved in
theft, drugs or pornography. One out of every three teens on the street will
be lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home. Homelessness in the
United States of America: the causes and the alleviation Herman Felani Tandjung, Thesis Abstract,
Academia.edu Click [here]
to access the article. Its URL is not
displayed because of its length [accessed 24 March
2015] Although United
States of America is a rich country, many of its citizens still suffer from
poverty and homelessness. Homelessness is a form of absolute poverty This
research aims to identify the causes and solutions of homelessness in the
United States of America. According to the
findings, there are four factors that cause homelessness in the United States
of America, i.e. economic, social, cultural, and political factors. The cause
of homelessness from economic factor is poverty, from social factors are
substance abuse, mental disorder, and domestic violence, from the cultural
factor are the American society do not practice extended family system and
there are groups of people who hold the culture of poverty, and from the
political factor is the inadequacy of social policy made by the government to
end homelessness. The solutions to solve the problem of homelessness in the
United States of America come from the government and private party. The
Government made social policy to handle homelessness with service and income
policy and housing policy. The private party gave charity to the homeless by
providing food, shelter, and health service. To end homelessness in America,
the program should be made for long-term, not only in the form of charity,
and should target to the main cause of the homelessness which is poverty. Uplifting the
“Dangerous Classes” - What Charles Loring Brace’s philanthropy can teach us
today Howard Husock, City Journal, vol. 18, no. 1, Winter 2008 www.city-journal.org/2008/18_1_urb-brace.html [accessed 9 August
2011] Homelessness,
contrary to those who date its inception to the Reagan administration, is
nothing new in The
scale of what Brace did is stunning, especially for those who believe that
only government can undertake large-scale efforts to help the poor. Over its
first 27 years, the Children’s Aid Society provided temporary assistance and
moral instruction to the 170,000 children who passed through its seven
Lodging Houses. It also placed 50,000 orphans and other street children in
homes in The Orphan Trains American Experience,
Public Broadcasting Service PBS www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/orphan/ [accessed 9 August
2011] ABOUT THE PROGRAM - Eighty years
ago, Elliot Bobo was taken from his alcoholic father's home, given a small
cardboard suitcase, and put on board an "orphan train" bound for 2 Honduran,
Guatemalan youths are among the lucky few www.azstarnet.com/metro/160753 [Last access date
unavailable] [accessed 14 January
2017] Herrera said his
mother died when he was 2, and he often ran away from home because his
alcoholic father hit him almost daily. When he grew older, he said, gangs
would beat him and threaten to kill him because he refused to join them. He went north to escape, Herrera said, and
got through Concrete
Is Cold And Hard At Night: The Children’s Voices Jay Shaft, Coalition
For Free Thought In Media, Voices Of The Lost And Forgotten - Part Three, 18
May 2005 www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0505/S00199.htm [accessed 9 August
2011] RUNAWAY
AND DISCARDED CHILDREN
- “I work a few hours a day for a guy who doesn’t give a sh.t how old I am. I
think he knows I ran away but he needs me to work so he doesn’t say anything.
I make enough to stay drunk and high so it’s not so bad. I live in squat with
a bunch of other kids and we all go out and panhandle to make extra cash.” Homegrown sex
trafficking; Combat the exploitation of American youth Marie Smith, The www.questia.com/library/1G1-132000263/homegrown-sex-trafficking-combat-the-exploitation [accessed 11
Aug 2013] Sex trafficking is
known to destroy the lives of women and children internationally, but it is
also "homegrown" and devastates the lives of American youth from
all economic levels. Summer is fast approaching and with it an increase in
the number of children living on the streets at risk for increased commercial
sexual exploitation. They live in fear of losing their coping mechanisms
(drugs and alcohol), and fear of losing a place to live and food to eat.
These children are also ashamed and fear their families will find out what
they have been doing. They fear the police and fear being returned home. Congressional
Testimony - Statement of Chris Swecker Assistant
Director, Criminal Investigative Division, FBI Chris Swecker, Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, Jun 7, 2005 www2.fbi.gov/congress/congress05/swecker060705.htm [accessed 9 August
2011] Juveniles who
become involved in sexual trafficking face a myriad of obstacles and enormous
needs if they want to leave that life, including very basic needs such as
safe housing, subsistence, and schooling. In addition, they may need drug
treatment, medical treatment, and mental health services. They may have
problems related to victimization prior to their life on the streets. Most
cannot return to their family of origin, so they need help to prepare for
independent living. Why I traded a gala
gown for cold concrete Michelle D. Freeman,
The Washington Post, 17 November 2013 [accessed 19 Nov
2013] I’ll never forget
the way the cold pierced through all of my layers straight to my bones. I felt awful. I never fell asleep completely. The noise, the voices of strangers, the
thought of rats and all the activity of the night became frightening and I
felt exposed. Here in our
nation’s capital, we have one of the highest rates of youth homelessness in
the country. According to Covenant House Washington, there are more than
1,600 homeless youth in the District over the course of a given year, far
exceeding the 77 beds specifically reserved for them. Child abuse and neglect
are the highest in the nation, at almost 30 percent, and nearly two out of
three teenagers will not graduate from high school in Wards 7 and 8. StandUp For Kids - Street
Outreach StandUp For Kids, National
Headquarters, 83 Walton Street Suite 500, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, T
800.365.4KID, F 404.954.6610, Email: Contact@standupforkids.org www.standupforkids.org/streetoutreach.html [accessed 9 August
2011] www.standupforkids.org/programs/street-outreach.aspx [accessed 14 January
2017] [accessed 9 October
2017] WHO
NEEDS THE HELP? -
A viable street outreach program is not solely concerned with finding
homeless kids who are interested in staying in a shelter. While identifying
kids, who may require shelter assistance, we must also provide support to
those who, for one reason or another; (1) have to live on the streets, (2)
aren't ready for more of the establishment, (3) are afraid to go to a
shelter, (4) have a police record and fear incarceration or (5) are afraid
that they will be sent home. Ending the quiet
tragedy of modern-day slavery Leland Y. Yee,
Assembly Speaker Pro Tem, San Francisco Chronicle, February 17, 2005 www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Ending-the-quiet-tragedy-of-modern-day-slavery-2729680.php [accessed 15 August
2012] In the past 12
months, immigration agents have raided a number of suspected brothels in
quiet Despite shock at
how it could happen here, prostitution of youth is sadly all too common in
our community and, in fact, often involves children as young as 9 years old.
Child prostitution is a devastating problem that few people want to talk
about. The fact remains that rarely do child prostitutes begin selling their
bodies on their own. Many are coerced into the lifestyle and forced into
virtual slavery by traffickers and pimps. According to the advocacy
organization Standing Against Global Exploitation, 85 percent of child
prostitutes previously suffered incest, rape or abuse at home, and are often
singled out by pimps because they are runaways. – htsccp Teen prostitution
is also a suburban problem, says former Minneapolis mayor Hofstede T.W. Budig, Capitol Roundup, 4 November 1999 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 9 August
2011] The most vulnerable
category of children susceptible to becoming involved in prostitution are runaway or homeless youths, the report notes. A child is usually approached by a person
willing to pay for sex within 36 to 48 hours of the child being on the
street, the report states. While a 1997 Children of the
Night Children of the
Night www.childrenofthenight.org/home.html [accessed 9 August
2011] [accessed 14 January
2017] WE’RE HERE TO HELP - Children of the Night is dedicated to assisting
children between the ages of 11 and 17 who are forced to prostitute on the
streets for food and a place to sleep. YouthCare - Youth Stories YouthCare www.youthcare.org/index.php/about_us/stories [accessed 9 August
2011] www.youthcare.org/our-programs/outreach-and-basic-needs#.WHrf21z5z2Y [accessed 14 January
2017] There are close to
1,000 homeless youth in Seattle every night. They sleep in cars, abandoned
buildings, under bridges and on friend’s couches. These young people are
often homeless because the streets are safer than home. Many have been abused
and abandoned. Their stories are tragic. Once on the streets, kids have few
resources to find food, clothing and shelter for survival. Without proper
resources youth are more likely to turn to destructive behaviors, such as
crime, prostitution and drugs. 100 Reasons to Move
Beyond the Street Larkin Street Youth
Services www.larkinstreetyouth.org/youth-connections/100-reasons-to-move-beyond-the-street/ [accessed 9 August
2011] larkinstreetyouth.org/about-us/ [accessed 14 January
2017] Every young person
deserves a roof over their head and a safe place to call home. Unfortunately,
there are far too many of our youth who—through no fault of their own—are
without homes and without safe places to live and learn. In Homeless Kids Find
Shelter at Covenant House Covenant House www.covenanthouse.org/about-homeless-charity [accessed 9 August
2011] [accessed 9 October
2017] Covenant House International
is the largest privately-funded agency in the Americas providing shelter and
other services to homeless, runaway and throwaway youth. In addition to
food, shelter, clothing and immediate crisis care, Covenant House provides a
variety of services to homeless, runaway and throwaway youth including
medical care, educational and vocational programs, drug abuse treatment and
prevention programs, legal aid services, recreation programs, mother/child
programs, transitional living programs, life-skills training and street
outreach. The Covenant House
NINELINE (1-800-999-9999 /
www.nineline.org) received and immediately responded to more than 48,000
crisis calls from youngsters all over the The Sexual
Exploitation of Children - A Working Guide to the Empirical Literature [PDF] Richard J. Estes, www.sp2.upenn.edu/restes/CSEC_Files/CSEC_Bib_August_2001.pdf [accessed 9 August
2011] [accessed 14 January
2017] [page 22, section D] RUNAWAY,
"THROWAWAY" AND STREET CHILDREN IN THE UNITED STATES 1. Prevalence 2. Causes/Risk Factors Associated With Running Away 3. Social and Health Risks of Runaway & Street
Youth--Including Sexually Exploited Youth 4.
Gangs and Gang Culture Among Runaway/Street Youth 5. Homeless
Youth -
sccp All
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