Cordillera Administrative Region- “Nakatulong po saakin ang RRCY sa pag-aaral dahil kung wala po sila baka ngayon po ay hindi ako nag-aaral. Sa tulong po ninyo, maaabot ko po iyong pangarap ko na maging bar tender”, Laurence said.

Laurence, not his real name, is a former resident of the Regional Rehabilitation Center for the Youth (RRCY), who is able to avail of education services while staying in the center.

The RRCY serves as a nurturing out-of-home placement for children in conflict with the law whose sentences have been suspended and are in need of rehabilitation.

The RRCY provides wholistic intervention with the aim for reintegrating the resident to their families and communities. This is done through the provision of various services and interventions such as social services, psychological services, health and dietetic services, and recreational and spiritual enhancements programs.

Aside from these, the RRCY offers homelife and educational services to provide each client the venue and opportunity for learning.

“Despite the challenge brought by the COVID 19 pandemic, our personnel in the RRCY do their best to assist our residents in availing programs that can help them develop themselves. The RRCY has partnered with institutions such as the University of Baguio to provide scholarships to our residents. By providing them good education, we are giving them an opportunity to fight for a better future”, DSWD FO CAR Regional Director Arnel B. Garcia, CESO II said.

As for Laurence, he enrolled under the Technical Vocation course focusing on cookery. He is currently under trial reintegration.

“Most of our residents in the RRCY believe that education services in the center is the program that helped them the most. We have maximized online learning for them to continue education during their stay in the center”, RRCY Head Rojhelea Suclad- Claur shared.

Furthermore, residents of the RRCY recognized the homelife skills provided in the center.

“For me, I believe that education is my sword and life skills are my talent”, aka June shared.  “The different activities in the center have helped me to change my unacceptable lifestyle that I had when I was outside. To quote, “if you want to be successful someday start fixing your bed.”, another resident shared.

Director Garcia said that the appreciation from the residents affirm that the efforts of the DSWD and its residential care facilities are not put to waste.

“This is more than achieving our targets in numbers. When we improve the mindset of our residents, there is an opportunity for better life”, Director Garcia said.

As of 13 December 2021, there are 21 residents in the RRCY. Of these, 12 are students, eight (8) of which graduated from Junior Highschool, two (2) from Senior Highschool, and two (2) from elementary. #DSWD FIELD OFFICE CAR, SOCIAL MARKETING UNIT, NERIZZA FAYE G. VILLANUEVA-TRINIDAD