Doctors to Children

30% of St. Petersburg’s street youth are HIV positive. The use of alcohol and illegal drugs by street and at-risk youth in St. Petersburg is a leading cause of juvenile crimes, as youth commit crimes (usually theft) to support their substance use. Doctors to Children (DtC) provides a variety of services at drop-in centers and halfway houses including HIV assistance and health services for street youth in the St. Petersburg region.

With EMpower’s fourth grant, Doctors to Children (DtC) is expanding its work focused on reducing initial and repeat offenses by youth at-risk for incarceration that was supported in the 2010/11 grant.

Through this grant, DtC will offer two paths towards rehabilitating and reintegrating programme participants into society: offering direct services to youth and training government providers in effective methodologies for supporting at-risk youth. The goal of this work is to help at-risk youth avoid crime and build paths to education and employment.