This Descriptive Cross-Sectional study pursued to determine the mental health status and coping mechanisms of the street children with the daily challenges on the streets gathered among fifty-six respondents from selected areas in Zamboanga City. This is composed of two phases wherein the first phase was the survey and screening that utilized purposive sampling. The normal mental health status was manifested in thirty-two of the children, thirteen as borderline, and eleven as abnormal. The common physical challenge was poverty where children coped through begging. Avoidance is a way of coping with the social challenge of absence of adult protection on the streets. Self-pity is one of the emotional challenges coped through socialization. As a result, there is a need for concerned agencies to develop programs in helping the street children positively cope with their daily challenges. A similar study is suggested focusing on specific psychiatric disease of street children.

Keyword: Child labor