What causes kids, children,
youth, young people, to run away from home?
Answer
It is critical that the number
of youth who run away from home not be viewed entirely
as an indicator of problem youth behavior, but also
as evidence of society's inability to develop adequate
supports for youth and families troubled by economic
difficulties, alcohol or drug abuse, incest, and violence.
In its Report to the Congress on the
Youth Programs of the Family and Youth Services Bureau
for Fiscal Year 1999, FYSB reported that young people
being served by its grantee programs are fleeing, or
being forced out of, homes in which their safety and
well-being are at risk because of abuse and neglect
and exposure to drug and alcohol abuse.
In addition, at the request of the
Congress, FYSB conducted a study in 1992 to examine
the link between young people's family circumstances
and youth at-risk behavior. The study, entitled Youth
with Runaway, Throwaway, and Homeless Experiences .
. . Prevalence Drug Use, and Other At-Risk Behaviors,
found the following:
There is a strong link between family
circumstances, especially familial substance use, and
the high-risk behaviors of runaway, throwaway, and homeless
young people.
- Disruptive family conditions may be the principal
reason that young people leave home.
- Familial substance abuse co-occurs with youth substance
abuse, youth suicide attempts, and other problem behaviors.
- More than half of the youth interviewed by the study
team during their shelter stays reported that their
parents either told them to leave or knew they were
leaving and did not care.
How many young people run away
from home each year?
Question
Do you know how many kids run
away each year? Please tell me how many teens run away
each year.
Answer
There is little reliable national
data on the number of young people who run away or are
homeless each year.
Estimates of the number of runaway
and homeless youth vary:
The National Network for Youth suggests
that approximately 1 to 1.3 million young people run
away from home each year.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of Justice,
reported that there were 446,700 "broad scope runaways"
from households in 1988 (broad scope was defined as
children who left home without permission and stayed
away overnight).
The OJJDP further reported that there
were an estimated 127,100 "broad scope thrownaways"
in 1988. (The study leaders defined this term as any
of the following situations: (1) the child had been
directly told to leave the household; (2) the child
had been away from home and a caretaker refused to allow
the child back; (3) the child had run away, but the
caretaker made no effort to recover the child or did
not care whether or not the child returned; or (4) the
child had been abandoned or deserted. In all four cases,
the child had to be out of the house for at least one
night). (Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway
Children in America, First Report: Numbers and Characteristics,
National Incidence Studies, Washington, D.C.: Office
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S.
Department of Justice, May 1990).
