Harboring a Runaway Teen

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http://www2.lv.psu.edu/jkl1/runawaylives/OnceUponaTime.html (Runaway story)
http://www2.lv.psu.edu/jkl1/runawaylives/StillHaveNightmares.html (Another story)

The only law, involving runaway teens, is that you cannot harbor one. You must report them to the police. A 2003 FBI study showed that there were 123,581 arrests for harboring runaway teens. If someone knows about a teen being harbored, then they can get fined up to $2,500 or up to 12 months in confinement. If a friend is harboring a teenager, and their guardian(s) are older then 18, then they get accused for a serious crime. The parents of the runaway can fine some serious charges. Although it does not seem like a serious punishment, it is because they can get some serious punishments including jail for up to 20 years. Harboring a teen is no small thing.









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"Harboring a Runaway Teen." Legal Help, Directories, Articles, and Forums From ExpertLaw. Web. 09 Jan. 2011. <http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30597&page=1>.

What Happens to Teens After They Run Away

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A teen runs away, getting away from their problems. But what happens to them after they run away?

There are many possibilities as to what happens to teens after they run away. There are also, many dangers. Such as prostitution, drugs, gangs, violence, rape, being homeless, and also, being hungry. There are more then 1 million teens on the streets currently. Those 1 million teens are prone to many dangers because they are desperate. They runaway with probably not enough money for a place to stay, food, clothing, and education. Which is why they result to these dangers. 80% of runaway/homeless girls are sexually or physically abused. Thats 1 out of every 5 girls that is not being hurt in one way or another. 12% of runaways spend at least one night sleeping at a park, bench, under a bridge, or on a rooftop. At least 17% of runaway youth go into prostitution out of desperation to make money. 32% of runaways have attempted suicide some time in their life. 50% of runaway teens have been reported to drop out of school or get expelled because of lack of attendance, effort, and participation. 21% are known to have drugs after they runaway. And 7% join gangs as a source of income and support.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=runaway+books&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=13060811045122603405&ei=gtkoTc2gFdXtnQesrJzQAQ&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CEIQ8wIwCA#ps-sellers  (A book I have actually read about a girl running away and the obstacles she has encountered. I really like this book and recommend it to those who want to read a touching but good book)

http://www.experienceproject.com/stories/Was-A-Teen-Run-Away/1247977 (short online runaway story)

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National Runaway Switchboard. Web. 08 Jan. 2011. <http://www.nrscrisisline.org/news_events/third.html>.

National Runaway Switchboard

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 The National Runaway Switchboard recieves more then 100,000 calls a annually about missing or runaway teens. The National Runaway Switchboard's job is to keep teens safe, and off the streets. It is a national communication system for homeless and runaway youth and teens. The NRS began in 1971 for crises intervention of missing teens in Chicago. It was a 24 hour service, completely free. In 1974 they were granted money to establish a national hotline. It's available in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Guam. The funding is provided by Family and Youth Services, Human Services, and U.S. Department of Health. They also recieve funding from corporate donations, privation donations, and individual donors. It also offers education and non judgmental support.
http://www.nrscrisisline.org/ (Learn more about the National Runaway Switchboard)
http://www.about-personal-growth.com/runaway.html (Has a short story about a girl who runs away from home and how it effected her)


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National Runaway Switchboard. Web. 07 Jan. 2011. <http://www.nrscrisisline.org/pub_mat/annual_report.html>.

Organizations and Laws about Runaway Teens

There are temporary shelter services provided for teens from the ages 12-17. There are also organizations called TeenCare, and the National Runaway Swtichboard. The National Runaway Swtichboard is located in Chicago. It's main goal is to keep runaway teens from the streets and in safe care. The Family and Youth provide their funding services bureau. There are also Youh & shelter Homeless centers that teach homeless Youth individual skills so that they can live independantly and support themseleves. It is mainly for older youth as a last resort because it is not funded by the government. They go out every night and locate teens. They have an outreach center that provides meals and other services. There are also services available for teens who runaway such as job oppurtunities, college, and safe places to live.

The only law written about runaway teens is that you cannot be a provider for a run away teen. If you see a teen with a back pack who is a runaway, you cannot take him or her home and give them food, a place ot stay, and support. You have to report them to the police or else you will get charged and perhaps arrested for harbboring a teen.


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"Des Moines." Youth & Shelter Services, Inc. - Iowa. Web. 06 Jan. 2011. <http://www.yss.ames.ia.us/index.cfm?nodeID=20866>.

Runaway Teens blog #3

How to prevent runaway teens?
You can't.
Running away is the 2nd to last resort before suicide.
You can however, help them before they run away. Having a stable and safe home environment can really help. According to Times magazine, other then making a facility for runaways, there is nothing else we can do. Because teens who run away, are doing it out of desperation, and if no one is there to help them, they will end up living on the streets. Runaway teens are less likely to talk about there own problems then to runaway. If you feel a teen is about to runaway there is a website called Crisescounciling.com where there is a list of possible preventions. Such as seeking counseling with the teenager, checking mental health of teenager, evaluate alcohol and drug use of teenager, and increasing communication with the teenager. Preventing run away teens isn't impossible, but very hard because the teens are keep their feelings in, so if you know a teen that is acting strange or depressed but not saying anything, use methods such as counseling, communication, and cecking the mental health of the teen to prevent them from running away.

"How to Prevent Your Teen from Running Away." Associated Content from Yahoo! - Associatedcontent.com. Web. 06 Jan. 2011. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1102966/how_to_prevent_your_teen_from_running.html.

"Troubled and Running: Dealing with Teen Runaways · Sue Scheff™ · Understanding and Preventing Runaways." Troubled and Running: Dealing with Teen Runaways · Sue Scheff™ · A Growing Problem. Web. 06 Jan. 2011. <http://www.sue-scheff.info/understanding-preventing.html>.

Runaway Teens Blog #2

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46% of runaway teens, runaway because of family problems. That's almost half of runaway teens running away from home problems. These problems may include physicial abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, or neglect. Teens may feel the only way they can get away from these forms of abuse is by running away. 14% of runaway teens runaway because of school, peer pressure, or bullying. Kids might be teasing, harrasing, abusing, and forcing the teen to do something they don't want to do therefore leading them  to think the only way out is to runaway. 4% of teens run away from drugs or alcohol. But when teens runaway they are more prone to drugs and alcohol out of desperation, lonliness, and mood booster. And 33% runaway because of other isses including pregnancy, educational issues, and legal issues. Girl teens who are pregnant may run away because of the humiliation and lack of support from peers and family. And teens may not be passing a grade or graduating, therefore running away before facing peers. And legal issues because perhaps a teen's parents are fighting for the child, or the teen is fighting for his or her's child. There are many tragic statistics about teenage runaways.

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Kestin, Sally, and Megan O'Matz. "DCF Runaways." Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale, FL). Feb. 23 2003: 1A+. SIRS Researcher. Web. 05 Jan 2011.

Gilden, Julia. "See How They Run." In These Times. 12/20/89-1/9/90: 12-13. SIRS Researcher. Web. 05 Jan 2011.

Runaway Teens Blog #1

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1 million teens run away from their homes a year from every social class, race, and religion according to Sue Schiff. Runaway teens is not a problem, its a tragedy. Runaways are teens who run away from home and their life. Although there are shelter services provided for teens, teens living on the streets are more prone to drugs, alcohol, theft, depression, prosititution, and homelessness. Teens go into prostitution in order to earn money, and perhaps that money isn't spent correctly, maybe it is spent for drugs and alcohol. Therefore leading to theft of food. therefore leading to homelessness because they are spending too much money on drugs and alcohol to make themselves feel better, and then leading to depression because of what their life had come to. The police have a big problem with runaway teens for several reasons. First, is because out o f desperation teens are making illegal choices. And second, because when the families report the "missing" teens to the police, they have to go out and look for them when really there might be actual teens who are missing and are in greater need of their attention and actually want to come home. When teens runaway from home, it causes a huge crises involving the police, friends, and family.


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Visser, Steve. "Runaway Teens Living in the Shadows of Atlanta." Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, GA). 08 Feb 2010: B.1. SIRS Researcher. Web. 05 Jan 2011.

Crawford, Trish. "Street Kids: Hanging Out in a Harsh City with a Growing Band of..." Toronto Star (Toronto, Canada). 04 Mar 1995: A1+. SIRS Researcher. Web. 05 Jan 2011.