Over 1,000 homeless youngsters helped

The Beijing municipal government has aided more than 1,000 homeless young this year, according to the city's civil affairs bureau, allowing them to receive not only food and shelter but also mental care.

The Beijing Juvenile Rescue and Protection Center is an official institute run by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs. Homeless children found by police or civil department are sent here for healthcare, help finding a home or to return them to their hometowns.

Li Jing, from the bureau's media department told the Global Times Tuesday that by the end of November, the center had rescued 1,100 juveniles.

"The center was built to rescue homeless children in Beijing between three and 18 years old who have no guardians and no severe mental or physical health problems. It also offers counseling services, basic education and psychological treatment," said Li.

An anonymous employee from the center told the Global Times that the child's parents are immediately contacted when the children arrive.

"Usually these children are not local, so our staff asks their parents to come to Beijing to get them. Or we can also escort them to their hometown," said the staff member.

When the center was first founded in 2003, it was designed to meet basic needs such as providing food, shelter and help finding their parents. However, as the center discovered the growing problems that homeless children suffered from, it began offering other services.

"The children sent here include young people coming to Beijing for a job and beggars, who account for two-thirds of those we get. The rest usually have more tragic pasts: they have been abandoned, or kidnapped, or have parents in prison," Li said.

When these children are sent to the center, they stay there until the center is able to find reliable relatives to take care of them, said Li.

For these children, Li said physical help is not enough. "So the center also offers them education, counseling and skills training," he added.