The "grip strategy" concept of dealing with street children started on the streets of Cape Town and Stellenbosch in South Africa in 1996. Children and people from disadvantaged communities, social services and the police were involved in developing this "new approach" which we call "a grip strategy" to deal with out-of-school/street children. The main ingredient of this approach can be summarized as "the community as therapeutic agent." This concept of dealing with street/homeless children gets national and international recognition.