Dream Café runs space for youth to build skills, find confidence, retrieve their future

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/06/21
By: Chris Chang, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Juvenile rehabilitation is a long, demanding, and sometimes fruitless process, but one Taiwanese organization believes every young outcast has a story to tell and deserves a second chance beyond the justice system.

Established in 1992, the Bornanew Youth Caring Association (BYCA) supports youth from disadvantaged backgrounds who feel society has no place for them. Dream Café was founded to create a difference — to be a place where young people can learn skills, interact with others, and gain confidence that schools fail to give them.

"Many young Taiwanese cannot get a sense of accomplishment in the current educational system. When educators only care about performance in major subjects and students with athletic or artistic talent miss their chance to shine," said Chen Yen-chun (陳彥君), director of the BYCA. "Many young adults then choose to drop out and use extreme, often illegal, means to find their worth."

Having been a social worker for more than a decade, Chen pointed out that changing social values and technologies have drastically shaped juvenile crime. In 2011, most delinquents were involved in theft (32.58 percent) or violence (15.07 percent), but in 2019, higher percentages of youth were being taken into custody for fraud (22.23 percent) and drug-related crime (13.55 percent).    [FULL  STORY]