(MissionNewswire) Magone Home Aftercare Program, located in Cebu, Philippines, received funding to pay for critical staff positions thanks to Salesian Missions donors. The funding helped support the work of two psychologists, two educators, two social workers and two houseparents for one month.

The Magone Home Aftercare Program was designed to engage adolescent males who are in conflict with the law. The intensive aftercare treatment program takes place after youth have undergone rehabilitation in a facility designed for youth who break the law, like the Regional Rehabilitation Center for Youth, or after they have undergone community diversion with the end goal of preparing youth for independent living.

The aftercare program is facilitated in-house and services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In-house, youth are under the care and supervision of a multidisciplinary team of specialized providers. The program is also run in-community where the youth initially stays at home, directly under the supervision of the local government social worker and the Magone Home community social worker.

When fully prepared and motivated for living at the Magone Home facility, youth, under community diversion, stay at the facility for the full delivery of case management services adapted to their needs. The program follows a four-phase design that runs for over two years.

“We are grateful for our donors who provided funding so we could help support the Magone Home Aftercare Programs,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “This program ensures that youth have an opportunity to receive the support and care they need when they are in trouble with the law. The goal is rehabilitation and giving youth a second chance at life.”

Since 1950, Salesian Missions has been providing crucial help in the Philippines—working with at-risk youth, impoverished families and disaster victims. Humanitarian agencies warn of the dangers faced by the most disadvantaged children in the Philippines. According to UNICEF, there are at least 1.2 million children between the ages of 5 and 15 who are out of school and are being left behind. In addition, children born into the poorest 20 percent of the population are almost three times more likely to die during their first five years as those from the richest 20 percent.

Salesian missionaries, supported by funding from Salesian Missions, were at the forefront of disaster relief during reconstruction after the Nov. 8, 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan (locally known as Yolanda) devastated the country. According to United Nations estimates, 11.5 million people were affected by Haiyan and close to 1 million were displaced. More than half a million were homeless and living in the streets among the debris. Salesian missionaries mobilized all resources and efforts to aid the victims of this and other disasters.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS) 

Salesians of Don Bosco Philippine South Province – Magone Home Aftercare Program

Salesian Missions – Philippines

UNICEF – Philippines