Our 16 year old granddaughter ran away from home in Missouri a couple of days ago. She is not alone.
- One in seven children between the ages of 10 and 18 will run away.
- Some will return within a few days; others remain on the streets never to return.
- An estimated 1.3 million youth are on the streets each day.
- Assaults, illness or suicide will take the lives of 5,000 runaway youth each year.
- The median age for the cycle of running is 14 years old.
- Most runaway youths remain away from home between one month and one year.
- Females tend to return home sooner than males.
We were very lucky. Some of our granddaughter's friends were willing to help and through text messages were able to keep track of her and let her parents know where she was and where she was headed. This enabled us to contact the authorities and our granddaughter was picked up by the state police in New York two days after running away from home in Missouri.
Now the issue is how do we get her back home to Missouri and how will her parents be able to keep her there?
I found an organization that will help out with a FREE bus ticket. It's called the Home Free Program . 1.800.RUNAWAY. There are many other organizations out there that will help in various ways, I am in the process of getting a list together and putting up a website to help people in similar situations.
If you know of any groups or organizations that help runaways or families of runaways please leave a comment or contact me directly at cmmdtp@gmail.com .
A couple of valuable lessons learned here are:
- Know your children's friends and how to contact them.
- Have a recent picture of your child handy for authorities.
- Know where to go for help if something like this should happen
Much more coming soon on this subject as it is near and dear to my heart. If you have helpful info on runaways and resources please let me know.
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