Rescue centers face difficulties helping homeless

A shortage of staff members, remote locations and a lack of personalized services are blocking the homeless from accessing shelters in China, experts say.

Rescue centers in the capital only have five staff members, which includes people patrolling the streets for homeless, according to Feng Yuanjian, former director of the rescue station in Beijing's Dongcheng district.

"It's far from enough, especially in extreme weather," he said.

But even with enough people, Feng complained that most rescue centers are far from the city center.

Of the capital's 49 rescue centers, only two are downtown. The rest are close to or outside the Fifth Ring Road, according to shelters listed on the website of the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau.

From January to March, about 5,140 people in Beijing slept in shelters, according to the civil affairs bureau.

Shelters in Shanghai are equally quiet, according to Zhou Zheng, director of Shanghai Social Assistance Center.

Although 18 shelters across the city each received 20 cotton quilts before the temperature drop on Monday, few people have accepted assistance from shelter workers, as most chose instead to shiver on the streets.

According to regulations, government workers can only advise and "escort" the homeless, rather than take them to a shelter against their will. If a person takes the advice, they can get free food and accommodation, as well as a train ticket to their hometown.

But for Ma Li, who spent 15 years rescuing street children in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, helping the homeless is far more than a hot meal or a ticket home.

"To take a very simple example, children collected by shelters have to be sent back home. However, many of them came from dysfunctional families, which means they will run away from home again - it will come full circle and our current social assistance centers never solve the problem," Ma said.

China has no professional and personalized service and NGOs might have advantages in that area, he added.

Ma, who works under the Xuzhou civil affairs bureau's social welfare division, has tried introducing non-governmental services, as he believes help from government and non-government sides "do not conflict with each other, but are complementary".

Zheng Xin in Beijing and Shi Yingying in Shanghai contributed to this story.

wangqian@chinadaily.com.cn