A systematic review: A quest for effective interventions for children and adolescents in street situation

A case study on a generalist service delivery model for street children in Durban, South Africa: Insights from the capability approach

“…Various studies agree that it is imperative to have a continuity of programmes available because, for the majority of the cases, it is not encouraging the child to be reunited with (extended) family immediately (Berckmans et al, ; Ferguson, Dabir, Dortzbach, Dyrness, & Spruijt‐Metz, ; Harris et al, ). Berckmans et al () state that the gradual continuity of programmes enables children to develop trust in services that do not require a large personal commitment, such as a soup‐kitchen or drop‐in centre. Thereafter, children tend to develop the trust and courage required to make more serious commitments to shelters and long‐stay programmes.…”

“…Berckmans et al () identified similar challenges and stated: “When the rules are too strict, they leave the shelter and thus, indirectly force the organisation to loosen these rules.” Anich et al () warn drop‐in centres to not sustain a problematic issue. They argue that many children are not interested in reunification, they merely aim to receive benefits from various NGOs and programmes.…”

“…Family visits during a child's stay in a centre/programme increase the child's feelings of reintegration (Berckmans et al, ). These visits prepare the child and the family for reintegration and it identifies impairments.…”

From Exclusion to Inclusion—a Stepwise Process: a Qualitative Study of How the Reintegration Process Is Experienced by Young People Previously Living on Streets in the Kagera Region, Tanzania

“…This meant that it was important for them to have people that they could rely on to assist them to come up with alternative plans and solutions if the first one failed. The importance of getting the possibility to build such trustful adult relationships for successful interventions has been pointed out both in a systematic review by Berckmans et al (2012) and Kaime-Atterhög's thesis (2012) on interventions among street children in Kenya.…”

“…Reviews to assess the effectiveness of interventions for children living on the street all point out a need for further research on interventions and reintegration outcomes (Hossain and Coren 2015;Coren et al 2013;Wedge 2013;Ager et al 2012;Berckmans et al (2012). The sparse research available has mostly focused on the short-term outcomes of reintegration.…”