House Supports Runaway Prevention Programs

On October 25, the House approved, by voice vote, a resolution (H. Res. 484) supporting National Runaway Prevention Month. The resolution also supports efforts to promote greater awareness of effective runaway youth prevention programs, as well as the need for safe and productive alternatives, resources, and supports for homeless youth. The Senate passed a similar resolution (S. Res. 430), on October 13, 2004 (see The Source, 10/13/04). Sponsored by Rep. Jon Porter (R-NV), the resolution contains a number of findings, including:

• Preventing young people from running away and supporting homeless youth, and youth in other high-risk situations is a family, community, and national concern;
• 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 U.S. each year;
• Running away from home is widespread, with one out of seven children in the U.S. running away before the age of 18;
• Youth that end up on the streets or in emergency shelters 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; and
• Congress supports an array of community-based support services that address the critical needs of runaway and homeless youth, including family strengthening, street outreach, emergency shelter, and transitional living programs.

Emphasizing the importance of intervention services, Rep. Porter stated, “Many of the conditions that lead young people to leave or be turned out of their homes are preventable through interventions that strengthen family and support youth in high-risk situations. Successful interventions are grounded in partnerships among families and community-based human service agencies, law enforcement agencies, schools, faith-based organizations, and the business community.”

According to Rep. Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), “Each year roughly 5,000 of these troubled young people die from assault, illness, and in some cases from suicide. National Runaway Prevention Month is a time to encourage the development of community-based solutions to prevent runaway and homeless episodes among our Nation’s youths.”