House Supports National Runaway Prevention Month

On October 7, the House approved, by voice vote, a resolution (H. Res. 805) supporting efforts to promote greater public awareness of effective runaway youth prevention programs. Rep. Jon Porter (R-NV) sponsored the resolution.

The resolution contains a number of findings, including:

• The prevalence of runaway and homeless youth in the nation is staggering, with studies suggesting that between 1.6 million and 2.8 million young people live on the streets of the United States each year;
• Youth that end up on the streets are often those who have been “thrown out” of their homes by their families; who have been physically, sexually, or emotionally abused at home; who have been discharged by state custodial systems without adequate transition plans; who have lost their parents through death or divorce; and who are too poor to secure their own basic needs;
• The future well-being of the nation is dependent on the value placed on young people and the opportunities provided for youth to acquire the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to develop into safe, healthy, and productive adults; and
• The celebration of National Runaway Prevention Month in November 2004 will encourage all sectors of society to develop community-based solutions to prevent runaway and homeless episodes among the nation’s youth.

Stressing the need for effective runaway youth prevention programs, Rep. Porter stated, “Runaway and thrownaway episodes among our Nation’s youth are serious and widespread, with one out of every seven children and youth in the United States running away or being turned out of the home before the age of 18. A recent study by the Federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention estimates that nearly 1.7 million youth experienced a runaway or thrownaway episode in a single year…The primary factors of running away or being thrown away are severe family conflict, abuse and neglect, and parental abuse of alcohol and drugs.”

Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI) said that the youth who participate in the runaway prevention programs “represent a lost generation,” adding, “Most of them are not runaways. They have been thrown away, thrown away by their parents and by society. When they come to these programs, they do so out of a need for security, shelter and comfort they cannot find at home. These programs provide that comfort. They provide basic life skills, training, job preparation and placement, health referrals and services.”