The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Leadership, Change and Organizational Development

Railway Children

Railway Children supports children alone and at risk on the streets of India, East Africa, and the UK. Children migrate to the streets for many reasons, but once there they experience physical and sexual abuse, exploitation, drugs, and even death. We focus on early intervention, getting to the street kids before the street gets to them, and where possible we reunite them with their families and communities.

In addressing the issue we work through our three-step change agenda to:

• Meet the immediate needs of children on the streets—we work with local organizations to provide shelter, education or vocational training, counseling, and, if possible, reintegration to family life.
• Shift perception in the local context—we work with local stakeholders to ensure that street children are not viewed as commodities to be abused and exploited—but as ­children in need of care and protection.
• Hold governments to account—if we are to see a long-term, sustainable change for the children with whom we work, we must influence key decision-makers, ensuring that provisions for safeguarding children are made within their policies and budgets.

Last year we reached over 27 000 children, 14 690 of these were in India, where we reunited 2820 with their families. In the UK we launched our research, “Off the Radar,” which revealed the experiences of over 100 of the most detached children in the UK. Many of these children received no intervention either before leaving home or once they were on the ...