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Young runaways

Every year in the UK an estimated 100,000 children and young people run away from home or care, with one in six ending up on the streets. A young person might run away from home or care for various reasons, but when they do so it usually means that something in their life isn't going right. Furthermore, these young people face the particular range of risks that come from having to find alternative places to stay and the means to survive.

The Government's Young Runaways Action Plan sets out what local agencies need to do to give these vulnerable young people the help they need, and demonstrates this Government's commitment to support improvements in services for young runaways.

Drawing on evidence and recommendations from key delivery partners and practitioners, the action plan will make sure that, wherever possible, young people get the help they need to sort out issues in their lives before they run, and, in recognition that some young people will still run away, will ensure that there are services which can go into action quickly to support these young people and keep them safe.

For more information, download the Young Runaways Action Plan from the DCSF website.

Young runaways indicator

In January 2008, the Secretary of State, Ed Balls, announced there would be an indicator relating to young runaways included in the National Indicator Set from April 2009. The indicator will measure local areas performance in responding to the needs of young runaways, and has been introduced to raise local area awareness of the needs of runaways and to create a focus on the provision of services to this vulnerable group of young people.

Further information is available on the 'Young runaways: Indicator' page.

LA guidance

New statutory guidance has been developed to help local authorities put better systems in place to support young runaways from both home and care. This guidance replaces Children Missing from Care and from Home (2002). 

The new guidance, entitled Statutory guidance on children who run away and go missing from home or care, puts more emphasis on the importance of young runaways being offered a return interview and stresses the importance of information sharing and using common assessment. It also explains the need for a named person to have responsibility at local level.

Associated documents

PDF Document Statutory guidance on children who run away and go missing from home or care (2009) (520.7Kb)

Download the contents of this page: docas a Word Document

Last updated on 01/07/2009