THE DEPARTMENT of Social Welfare and Development XI requested local government units to establish a comprehensive Local Juvenile Intervention Program (LJIP) to reduce the number of children involved in crimes.
Jerome J. Gumbao, DSWD XI Regional Juvenile Justice and Welfare Committee secretariat team leader, said every LGU must have a strengthened LJIP in place.
“We wanted our LGUs to organize LJIP from municipality-level down to barangay level, because it will be focused on prevention,” Gumbao said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw.
Gumbao recognized it as one of the gaps of the LGUs, especially the barangays that have no LJIP.
The LJIP will serve as a guide for the process from Prevention, Intervention, Diversion, Reintegration, and Aftercare.
Angelic Paña, DSWD XI Regional Rehabilitation Center for Youth (RRCY) center head, said as of the latest data, 92 Children In Conflict with the Law (CICL) are housed in the center. Most of them are drug and rape cases.
“If it is suspected, there is a need to establish evidence because these are court-related, meaning all of our CICLs are referred to us by courts,” Paña said.
All 92 children have court orders, with the youngest being 14 years old, which supposedly should be handled in the community.
However, Paña said the Judge of the trial court opted to refer the child to RRCY to undergo rehabilitation and necessary intervention.
“Most of the influences are coming from online platforms and also coming from a dysfunctional family,” she added, noting that children will seek comfort from their barkada.
RRCY continued to provide services to the CICLs, including psychological services related to coping capacities, as some have experienced trauma and distress.
There are resident nurses and doctors to ensure the medical condition of the CICLs. Social welfare officers are also present to manage court-related cases of CICLs to assess reintegration if necessary. Of the 92 CICLs, 72 are still learners from elementary to senior high school continuing their studies inside the center through a multigraded system in partnership with a local school.
