Community-Based Options in Handling Children At-Risk and Children in Conflict with the Law, c2007
Undersecretary Alicia R. Bala
Department of Social Welfare and Development, Republic of the Philippines
E-mail: abala@dswd.gov.ph
Paper Presented in the Conference on the Rehabilitation of Youth Offenders--Expanding Horizons held at Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre, November 20-21, 2007

Rehabilitating CICLs requires multi-pronged interventions targeting interrelated social illnesses that result in breakdown of values due to lack of education and parental guidance as well as peer influences. The UNCRC exhorts member countries to implement holistic interventions that prevent incidence of CICL, which is one of the main foci of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and upholds children’s rights through restorative rather than retributive justice.

The Philippines responded by passing and implementing the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act. The Comprehensive Juvenile Justice Intervention Program was formulated with three major interventions to guide various stakeholders. Primary interventions respond to basic issues such as poverty, which will promote social justice. Secondary interventions, which are preventive and protective measures, provide psychosocial services to children at risk and their families. Tertiary interventions facilitate remediation and rehabilitation by giving CICLs/youth offenders opportunities to undergo diversion programs and as much as possible be spared from the criminal justice system. The Volunteer Intervention Program for Youth trains volunteers in providing counseling, monitoring progress of rehabilitated youths and their families and coordinating with social workers. Mobilizing and strengthening community support ensure that re-offending by CICLs is prevented.