More than 2,000 people - employees of the Moscow Department of Social Protection and volunteers of specialized public organizations (including Voluntary People's Teams), armed with the "Homeless Person's Handbook" - went on "Social Patrol" to the places with the largest concentrations of homeless people and vagrants. The Department has held similar events once a quarter before, but this is the first time it has been carried out on such a scale.

The action began simultaneously in all administrative districts of Moscow; it was opened near the walls of the Yaroslavsky railway station by the head of the social protection department, Vladimir Petrosyan, and the head of the department’s social assistance department, Andrei Pentyukhov. According to them, in 8 hours of work, patrol participants had to identify, register and interview all homeless people they encountered (and record the data obtained in special journals, which will now be processed and analyzed by the Department within a week), and also provide them with the necessary assistance: the hungry feed, clothe the naked, send the dirty to the disinfection station, the sick to hospitals, and hand over the drunk, criminals and delinquents to the police. All these services were put on alert, for example, several ambulance teams were registered, ready to respond to a call to a homeless person (and it is no secret that on ordinary days, ambulance employees often have a very negative attitude towards such trips), if will hear the key word – “social patrol action”. Just in case, the patrols were instructed to write down the numbers of the brigades and hospitals where the ward was being taken, so that it would be possible to track his fate.

About one and a half hundred people were present at the Three Stations Square, mostly members of the DND. Other public organizations represented were the “Mercy” Bus Service, the Homeless Assistance Service of the “Helper and Patron” charitable foundation, the “Helping Hand” Charitable Foundation, created by one of the evangelical communities of Moscow, “Friends on the Street”, etc., and from social security - employees Department of Homeless Services. Everyone except DND and “Friends on the Street” had their own buses, there were 7 crews in total. At the end of the official part, route sheets were distributed to everyone and patrolling began.



On the square. Above in the foreground is Alexei Orlov, an employee of the homeless assistance service at the Department of Social Protection, and a former homeless person himself. On the right is a vigilante from the DND




Employees of social adaptation centers also took part in the action.


The homeless of Three Stations felt like screen stars

We offer you a photo story about participation in the “Social Patrol” of the “Mercy” Bus:

Roman is the senior member of today’s crew of the “Mercy” bus.



The "Mercy" bus heads to Kursky Station


An employee of the Miloserdiye bus brigade is Mikhail. He refused to give his last name and put a mask on his face so that they would not be recognized. One day he was sitting on the sofa and watching TV. They showed a story about the Mercy bus. This was the impetus to come here to work and become a believing Christian. Now he has a confessor, and he studies at the Orthodox Institute of John the Theologian. When friends found out that he began going to church and working with homeless people, they stopped calling. But he decided that everything was for the better and there was no point in regretting such friends, and he found new friends - among the Orthodox and colleagues in the new ministry.


The first one picked up on the street


On the way to Kursky we stopped at the sanitary inspection station. Here the homeless have a bathhouse, and they are immediately given new clothes


Near the sanitary inspection station. Former street children, they grew up and turned into young men - strong, confident and daring. And they lead the lifestyle they are accustomed to since childhood.






Mikhail walks around the “subordinate” territory near the Kursk station. He knows where to look for homeless people. Approaching them, he asks if they need medical help or clothing and sends them to a bus that is nearby. Most homeless people know Misha and communicate with him friendly and grateful


But many of them reacted violently and aggressively to video and photo cameras. Someone swore, and someone even threatened to break it with a stone


Homeless people feed dogs. Firstly, they know better than anyone else the hard fate of being a vagabond. And secondly, some of them have “their own” flocks that protect their owners. So two years ago, one of the homeless people enjoyed the protection of a pack of dogs, they protected him, and in winter he warmed himself from them. When he died they ate him


Clothes and medicines are distributed from the bus to those in need.


The passer-by is not homeless, but her pension has already expired and she wonders if they distribute food on the bus?

Also, a correspondent for the website Miloserdie.ru took part in a raid of the Orthodox service for helping the homeless of the Helper and Patron Foundation. It is led by Ilya Kuskov, who was the head of Mercy until last fall. Now he has two minibuses that run around the outskirts of Moscow four days a week, you can call them to the homeless (tel. 8 905 599 00 25), but, as Ilya says, the ambulance will arrive faster than us in any case. Imagine - we are now at Three Stations, and then they will call us somewhere in Vykhino or Bibirevo! And even traffic jams! But during the day, if necessary, we will arrive.”
When Ilya and his colleagues started this project, they traveled around the surroundings of all 107 Moscow metro stations and studied the situation with local homeless people. “The Mercy bus operates at train stations, we operate on the outskirts,” said Ilya. – The difference is very significant. At the stations people are hot-tempered, often conflicting; at the stations there is constant movement and seething. The homeless people in the outskirts are much quieter, more humble, disciplined - and, by the way, more well-groomed, although there are a lot of drug addicts.


Bus of the homeless assistance service of the Charitable Fund "Helper and Patron"

The standard team of the Service includes both a paramedic and a social worker, but today they all remained on the usual route, in “Sots. Only Ilya and the driver Leonid participated in the patrol; they were joined by “horseless” girls from the organization “Friends on the Street”. As a result, during the entire campaign, only two people were identified, interviewed and assigned.

Other participants had better results, but not significantly. By the time the Social Patrol officially ended - at 18:00 - one of the two buses of the Mercy service had identified and helped 16 homeless people, one of the buses of the homeless assistance service at the Department - 8, employees of the Helping Hand foundation found it difficult to give an exact figure, but noted that that they distributed more than 50 panties and more than 100 cans of stew. We can only hope that the rest of the homeless population of the center of Moscow was able to be reached by members of voluntary people's squads. This will become clear exactly in a week, when the counting and analysis of the patrol “log books” is completed.


Mikhail AGAFONOV
photo by Andrey RADKEVICH

RESULTS OF THE “SOCIAL PATROL” ACTION, MOSCOW, SEPTEMBER 2008

WHY PEOPLE LOSE HOMES:
35% were in prison.
27% ended up on the street after family conflicts and divorces.
17% left and discharged themselves.
11% were deceived during the transaction.
7% sold it themselves.
3% is another reason.

WHERE PROFIT FROM:
8% are former residents of Moscow.
10% are residents of the Moscow region.
60% came from Russian regions.
22% are from the CIS countries (mainly Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Moldova and Kazakhstan) and other countries.

AGE:
19% - up to 30 years.
40% – from 30 to 40 years.
26% – from 40 to 50 years.
14% – from 50 to 60 years.
1% – after 60.
88% of all metropolitan tramps are men, women are a minority.
Every second person (approximately 45%) has a criminal record. The average length of a criminal record is 6 years.

EDUCATION:
76% have secondary, specialized secondary education.
10% – higher.
14% – incomplete secondary education.

RELATIVES:
55% have parents.
31% - husband/wife.
57% - brothers and sisters.
38% - children.
Only 7% have no relatives at all.

SOURCES OF LIFE ON THE STREET:
23% are engaged in theft, and they say: “I take what is bad.” Moreover, this figure has increased over Last year from 17%.
80% have temporary part-time jobs (most often washing cars, loading/unloading, garbage collection).
43% – collect dishes and jars.
25% beg.

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Social patrol.
Help for homeless citizens

Currently, more than half of Moscow vagabonds have housing in other regions and, in fact, are not homeless. First of all, these are economic migrants from the regions of Russia, degraded due to alcohol consumption and engaged in vagrancy in the city of Moscow.

Among people engaged in vagrancy in the city of Moscow, 94% are from other cities, 67% of whom came to Moscow to work, while 55% do not want to return home, 16% of them - Foreign citizens. The main reasons why tramps do not want or cannot go home is the desire to earn money cash to provide for their families, the availability of free food and other assistance, as well as the lack of documents and funds.

In a 24-hour temporary stay, homeless people receive the following services:

  • medical assistance;
  • clothing assistance;
  • nutrition;
  • treatment in inpatient medical institutions;
  • assistance in obtaining citizen passports Russian Federation;
  • assistance in registering disability;
  • assistance in assigning a pension;
  • assistance in placement in inpatient social service institutions;
  • assistance in employment;
  • assistance for nonresidents in traveling to their permanent place of residence;
  • assistance in restoring rights to lost housing.

The situation with vagrancy and homelessness in Moscow

In accordance with the current legislation on social services, the basic principles of providing social assistance to homeless citizens are voluntariness and application. At the same time, social services have organized work to identify people in need of targeted social and medical assistance.

Where, after a tour of the center itself, we managed to agree on the opportunity to go out with a social patrol car and see how people work.
Photos - Melnikov Ilya
Text - Ermolaeva Polina

"Hope of the Hopeless"

People tend to ignore unpleasant things. Finding ourselves next to a landfill, a homeless person lying down, or even just a drunk, we, wincing and turning away, rush to pass by. It’s as if we don’t want to believe in their existence. But there are people whose profession is to notice what others do not want to see. And these are those who work in social services to help the homeless.

What is their help? Not so long ago, social hotels were created in the capital - institutions that accept and house homeless people, provide them with medical and psychological assistance, restore documents, and help with employment. This is one of the few opportunities for people who have not yet completely lost their human appearance to return to normal life.

* The place where the homeless “tent camp” is located. In winter - in March, we found only four tents, one of which was abandoned.

There is another method of helping the homeless. Every day, white cars with the inscription “Department of Social Protection of the Population” drive around Moscow. Social Patrol" in search of those in need of their help. This is exactly the car I had to ride in. Its interior decoration is quite neat. On the shelves there are boxes with clothes and many promising signatures on them: “husband jackets”, “husband trousers”, “husband shirts”, next to them are packaged sandwiches and hot tea. Frankly, the suspension in the car is so stiff that the inscription “Don’t swear” sometimes loses its meaning, especially for their potential passengers.

* A homeless woman named Valya tells the details of the fire in their tent, as a result of which all the simple scrub that they managed to accumulate burned...

*They had 4 cats. Two of them now lie somewhere among the coals...

It's not hard to guess where the Social Patrol usually goes. First of all, he goes to train stations. But there are other places where it is almost impossible not to find homeless people. Together with social workers, I went to the so-called tent city. In fact, this is 4 tents for approximately one square kilometer. Homeless people usually inhabit wastelands and areas along rivers, where rarely anyone goes. The conditions are amazing: fresh air, water nearby, white-white snow in winter, fresh grass in summer. And those who are left without a roof over their heads build tents here from scrap materials: found linoleum, blankets, oilcloths. They do not deny themselves anything: neither food, nor clothing, nor even luxury items - for example, jewelry. They have their own intrigues, their own celebrities, their own entertainment. “Life is good,” homeless Valya remarked joyfully.

* journalist's work

* This is what the tent looks like from the outside.

* ...

*And so from the inside

The main task of the social patrol employees is to feed the homeless, provide them with first aid and, if their charges express a desire, take them to a social hotel. However, the workers themselves see another very important goal in their activities: “Every time we come, we mess with their brains, trying to return them to normal life,” noted Irina Devitskaya, one of the social workers. She compared this mission of hers to torture: water drips into one place on a person’s head. After a certain time, he begins to go crazy. So for those people with whom she works, going crazy means returning to the world of people.

* Homeless man nicknamed "The Nerd". 2 higher education, a mathematician, practically does not drink (which is not typical for homeless people), works part-time where he can. He says that in modern society- it just didn’t catch on.

Homeless people greet social workers as if they were their own and tell them everything they need to know. They are only shy about the camera, and even then not all of them. Social workers, in turn, know them by name and have a rough idea of ​​their stories. It must be admitted that homeless people live two lives: one - real, in the status of a lumpen, the other - in their imagination, where they are all heroes, cruelly offended by someone, or hermits whom no one understands. They come up with stories that sound so believable that they begin to believe themselves. And how can you understand what is true and what is not? But Irina Devitskaya, without getting tired and, obviously, not for the first time uttering these words, convinced Margot to apply for a pension, and Victor to declare himself in order to decide housing problem. And it’s scary to think that those who are considered missing live here, right under our noses!

* Valya talks about one of the two cats that survived the fire...

I have always been tormented by the question, what makes people do what others simply disdain? Now I've figured it out a little. Such people can be roughly divided into two categories: those who came here solely out of enthusiasm and the desire to make the world at least a little better, and those who were brought here by fate. The paramedic of the group with which we went to help the homeless, Andrei Samoilov, worked in prison for almost two decades and, having retired due to his years of service, got a job in the social patrol, because “the craving for these poor things remained,” as he himself put it, "out of despair." And they consider it an achievement even if one out of a thousand of their charges gets out of this swamp. The problem is that most of them simply don't want to. Despite the fact that they social status- there is nowhere lower, the pride in some of them does not fade away. For example, Botanik, a homeless person who, in his words, has two higher educations, convinced us: “I don’t drink with just anyone,” “I have somewhere to go, I just don’t want to.” Many of them are confident that they are able to change and return to reality. So, it is these people who are not yet completely lost to society that social patrol officers should consider.

* Social patrol

Probably, most of us, working in such a social service, could not stand it, would give up and say: “Why would I do this if they themselves do not want to get out of the hole!” But we need to pay tribute and recognize the courage of those people who work in social patrol. These are People with a capital P. These are people who truly love humanity.



We understand that now people are much more interested in discussing revolutionary changes in the country than in helping someone. But today’s post will be about those who are trying to make life better, regardless of politics. And neither elections nor the current government interfere with them.
Almost two years ago, when we did a report about the Mercy Bus, its employees already mentioned the Social Patrol, which was replacing them. Finally managed to look at the activities of this organization. They invited me to photograph the annual “opening of the season.” In short, they provide comprehensive assistance to homeless citizens. Details under the cut.

With the onset of cold weather, the problem of homeless people becomes more acute: not all homeless people can survive the winter. IN Lately Charitable and city social services help people survive in the cold. Thanks to them, mortality from hypothermia has sharply decreased. According to statistics, in the winter of 2002-2003, 1,200 people died from the cold, in 2010 - 150.

1. The action began in one of the most “homeless” places in Moscow - on Komsomolskaya Square. In total, 12 “social patrol” foot brigades came out to help the homeless this time.

2. And several dozen vigilantes

3. Since the opening of the cold season is accompanied by media attention, the event was so large-scale. Typically, all these cars patrol certain areas or respond to calls, and do not gather in one place. The main places where homeless people gather are the station areas. Workers now rarely enter the stations themselves. Their territories are under the control of Russian Railways. And the homeless themselves already know where and when to wait for this or that social organization

4. Information materials were also distributed to the homeless people - reference books for homeless citizens “Addresses of Mercy”. In them you can find the addresses of social centers and charitable food outlets yourself.

5. No sooner had the ceremonial formation taken place than the first clients arrived. Citizens were offered hot tea, social literature, provided medical and psychological help

6. Homeless people require different types of help: from simple washing to urgent hospitalization. Depending on this, the further route of the vehicle is selected.

7. This tramp, for example, was offered hot tea and then taken to the disinfection station

8. Many people need help with documents or getting admitted to a hospital

9. I honestly don’t remember what this man wanted, but for the proper effect he decided to demonstrate a dance to everyone

10. And even torn shoes couldn’t stop it

11. There is work not only in the square. "Social patrol" is waiting for the Komsomolskaya metro station, famous for its homeless inhabitants

12. Homeless people in the metro are offered the same help as their “social colleagues” on the square. The most important thing is to register the homeless person, put him on a special register

13. Among the homeless there are also quite young people. Such “clients” are special, because young man easier to return to normal life

15. Those homeless people who agree to receive help are taken to the surface to the Social Patrol cars. Their further path depends on their desire. They cannot forcibly take anyone away

17. And this is the most important homeless person at three stations. He said so himself

19. By the way, the Mercy Bus also cooperates with the destation. This is where they start all their night flights

20. There is a huge queue in the station yard. Another part is located behind the gate. It is very difficult to cope with such a volume of applicants. And through this window all necessary certificates are issued. Those who request them are included in a special list

21. Not everyone likes to be photographed. Many people have tears in their eyes when they see journalists. Apparently they remember their past life

22. The main task of the station is disinfection. Homeless people are processed special solution

24. And at this time their things are being taken to be “fried”

25. They also bring a lot of donated items to the station. They are distributed among those in need. Anyone can donate their item; later it will prevent someone from dying from the cold

26. The process of “roasting” takes place in this pressure chamber. Under the influence of temperature, all pathogenic bacteria die. The clothes can’t be called clean afterwards, but they are safe for others

Social patrol technology

Social educators and volunteers are involved as the main performers of rehabilitation and preventive activities in this technology.

“Social patrol” is a very effective method of working in social conditions, allowing you to quickly contact target groups of marginalized people, provide relevant social assistance and support to those in need. This technology is implemented through the use of a mobile team of specialists who visit certain places every day by car settlement. The two most effective directions are:

  • 1) work with marginalized people who spend most of their time on the street (homeless people, sex workers, informal groups, etc.);
  • 2) work on emergency response to identified facts of maladjustment, threats to life, etc. (raids on places of residence of children and adolescents: nightclubs, Internet cafes, etc., visiting information about a threat to the safety of a minor, etc.).

The use of this technology allows you to respond to the most acute social signals, come to new group accommodation points, bring food, hygiene products, simple first aid kits, second-hand clothes, various printed materials(magazines, booklets), provide prompt medical, psychological and other assistance. Regular visits create an external rhythm of life for clients.

In the “social patrol”, one or two minibuses can work in shifts (night and day), tracking potential clients who are simply on the street and showing signs of “field behavior”. This is extremely important from a preventive point of view. In the first case, such work provides a lot of useful information about the situation on the street in general, the ways in which clients end up on the street in the early stages of non-institutional existence, etc. In the second case, this makes it possible to maintain a high level of control over the behavior of members of target groups (for example, over the performance of parents their responsibilities towards the child, etc.).

The “social patrol” includes employees of one or another unit, depending on the purpose of the raid. For example, for a raid on drug dens, the patrol task force usually includes a social teacher, a drug addiction specialist, and a representative of the internal affairs bodies. An employee of the commission for minors’ affairs may be invited to visit the places of residence of street children; to visit the family - a social protection worker, etc. The main thing when selecting patrol members is to include specialists who are sincerely interested in the fate of representatives of the target group and who use this form of organizing activities to really help clients, and not to formally “compile” the next report on the official line.

The “social patrol” technology includes the following stages:

  • 1) identification of the target group of clients;
  • 2) identifying typical locations of group members;
  • 3) diagnosis of the basic current needs of group members, determination possible options and forms of assistance and support;
  • 4) assessment of the necessary resource support for assistance;
  • 5) development of a route for daily road raids;
  • 6) determining the time schedule of arrival at the next “point” and the duration of stay at it;
  • 7) preparation of materials advertising the terms and content of counseling/rehabilitation and other activities and services, distribution of these materials among members of the target group;
  • 8) carrying out raid activities;
  • 9) correction of the content and forms of assistance depending on the results of communication with clients.

Case management technology

Social educators are involved as the main executors of rehabilitation and preventive activities in this technology. Case management technology social casework or case management ) allows, during interaction with a social educator, to solve the client’s current problems. The technology is implemented by assigning a certain number of clients to a specific social educator. Activities are carried out in accordance with the following principles:

  • a) the problem is determined together with the client;
  • b) assistance is aimed at improving the condition and situation of the client at the moment and does not imply the achievement of global results (immediately returned home, go to school tomorrow, etc.);
  • c) the solution to each problem is allocated certain period, discussed in advance with the child and agreed upon with him;
  • d) if there is no progress in solving the problem by the specified deadline, the main methods of solving the problem and the program of activities with the client are revised.

The technology includes the following stages;

  • 1) determination of the totality of the client’s problems;
  • 2) assessment of the subjective significance of specific problems for the client;
  • 3) identifying problems in solving which the client wishes to accept the help of a social educator;
  • 4) building a hierarchy of problems agreed upon with the client and determining approximate deadlines for solving them;
  • 5) identifying a working group of specialists to help solve the client’s problem;
  • 6) drawing up an approximate work schedule for the group and the tasks of each of the participants;
  • 7) conclusion of an agreement on joint activities to solve a specific problem, indicating the content of the activities of the parties (the social teacher and the client), the timing of the activities, approximate results and options for incentives (for fulfillment) or punishment (for non-fulfillment) of the terms of the agreement. Monetary and material bonuses can be used as incentives
  • (clothing set, stationery, office equipment, electrical goods, Appliances), as well as various types of services: a swimming pool subscription, payment for free meals at school, free visits to a computer salon, etc. The penalty may be suspension of the validity of these subscriptions;
  • 8) work under contract:
  • 9) summing up the results on a specific problem, assessing the achieved result;
  • 10) making a decision to continue supporting the client or to stop working with him and transfer the case to another specialist.

The attitude of the majority of citizens towards representatives of marginalized sections of the population is one of the most important criteria for the social health of society as a whole. The main direction of social and pedagogical activity should be the development of a tolerant, understanding and supportive attitude towards the marginalized in society, preventing their exclusion from the sphere of active social life.