Runaway children

Who are runaways and why do they run away?


All children who voluntarily run away from their home or are pushed out of the institution where they have been placed.

Children who have run away revealed that they experience a lack of support and attention by a trusted adult in their lives (Glowacz, 2017). They also revealed that they felt unable to ask for help due to the lack of knowledge on the support available and/or a lack of trust in the support that they were familiar with.

 



What risks do children who run away face?

Running away is often an unplanned and impulsive response to a crisis situation and ¾ of children will return within a week.

However, if the situation they ran away from remains the same the probabilities of the child running away become more frequent and prolonged. This increases their risk of delinquency, exploitation, abuse, violence and overall vulnerability.

The long-term impacts of running away during adolescence are evident throughout adulthood with a significant impact on future health, economic, and justice system outcomes. Research shows an increase in the probabilities of experiencing mental health problems in adulthood as well as being a smoker and using marijuana.