November is National Runaway Prevention Month

What are the first thoughts that go through your mind when you see a youth on the streets? How did they get there, where are their parents, and are they safe? It’s disturbing to realize that between 1.6 and 2.8 million youth run away annually. Most youth who run away do so because of threatening environments at home, such as physical/verbal abuse, substance abuse issues, questions of sexual orientation, or escaping state care. Unfortunately, by choosing to run away, they further subject themselves to threatening situations that impede their progress in life. Young people who live on the streets are at high risk of developing serious, life‐long health, behavioral, and emotional problems. They suffer from high rates of depression, substance abuse, and post‐traumatic stress disorder. They are often survivors of physical and sexual abuse. The longer they live on the streets, the more likely they are to fall victim to sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

Almost 40 years ago, the groundbreaking Runaway and Homeless Youth Act created the first line of defense for young people who had run away from home, become homeless, or been asked to leave home by their families. Congress recognized the precarious circumstances of young people who could not return home but did not yet have the financial, social, or emotional resources to live successfully on their own. Runaway and homeless youth have often been traumatized by violence and abuse at home or in their communities. They have never had, or have lost contact with, supportive adults who could provide guidance and model healthy decision‐making. Also, these young people often fail to develop the educational and job‐readiness skills that are so crucial to financial and housing stability in adulthood. For all these reasons, programs that keep young people from being homeless – whether by providing preventive services or rapid, effective family reunification (if appropriate) or case management once youth are on the streets – are key components of the social safety net for our Nation’s most vulnerable youth. Today, that safety net is woven by the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, most recently reauthorized by the Reconnecting Homeless Youth Act of 2008, and administered by the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) within the Administration for Children & Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Tahoe Youth and Family Services has been a recipient and awarded the Basic Center Program grant that funds our emergency host home shelters and drop in center for minors who are either at immediate risk of being homeless or who are already on the streets. Beyond emergency services, basic centers provide mediation and counseling to keep minors in their homes or to reunify them with their families after they’ve left, if appropriate. Also, Tahoe Youth & Family Service has been awarded the Street Outreach Program that provides education and prevention services to runaway, homeless and street youth who have been subjected to, or are at risk of being subjected to, sexual abuse or exploitation.

Tahoe Youth & Family Services’ Drop In Center is a point of entry to provide information, resources, and opportunities to all youth who are homeless, living in poverty or who may be at risk of becoming homeless and are seeking to improve their overall wellness, and quality of life to find stability. Our Drop In Center staff can assist youth with the following supportive services: food, clothing, socks, hygiene supplies, laundry services, showers, help looking for a job or filling out an application, obtaining proper identification as well as motivation to move beyond the street with guidance and compassion. For more information on the Drop In Center or how you can help runaway and homeless youth in our community please contact Cheyanne Lane at Tahoe Youth and Family Services at (530) 541-2445.