The effectiveness of street children rehabilitation measures in Dar es Salaam region

The study discusses the effectiveness of street children rehabilitation measures in Dar es Salaam region. It assumes that the number of street children in Tanzania is increasing rapidly, despite the establishment of various rehabilitation measures, which include provision of services that are social welfare oriented, education and vocational training, social work and rehabilitation, family reunification and life skills. Literature shows that much is known about effectiveness of street children rehabilitation measures, but little known on Dar es Salaam. Therefore, a survey was conducted in Dar es Salaam to investigate this issue. Three of the nine street children centers in Dar es Salaam were observed. A total of 106 street children, directors and social workers at the street children rehabilitation centres were interviewed. Purposive, stratified and simple random sampling were adapted to select street children rehabilitation centres and street children. Chi- square test was performed to test for the association between poverty, violence and social and demographic characteristics of street children and that of their parents. The data reveal that most street children are between 13 and 16 years of age, uneducated and are mostly from Kagera and Dodoma regions. Most of them are from single parent (mother) families and their parents are predominantly poor peasants, with few engaging in petty trading activities. They usually come from large families, with more than six children per family. Children are forced to embark on the street by such factors as poverty, violence, family breakup, and loss of parents. Poverty and violence as the most significant factors to the street children phenomenon tend to have significant effects on children educational attainment and number of siblings. The absence of significant effect on age, religion and parents’ marital status were also noticed. The rehabilitation centers address the symptoms of the problems rather than the real causes of street children. The services are not aimed at long term solutions to the problem. They also provide services to more street boys than street girls. Financial crisis and poor coordination within the centers and the government are among the problems facing these centers. The study recommends ways of controlling the phenomenon by alleviating poverty and involving families and government to address the problem.