Runaways/Thrownaways around the world

According to Flores, J (2005). says trying to find an accurate “count” of the number of homeless youth is problematic and confusing, with estimates showing wide differences. An older 2002 federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention study estimated 1.65 million youth lived outside of their homes,7 while a decade earlier 2.8 million youth per year were identified as runaways.

The number of U.S. youth estimated to have had a runaway/thrownaway episode in 1999 is 1,682,900 (see table 1). Of these, an estimated 628,900, or 37 percent, were “caretaker missing” youth. Only an estimated 357,600 youth, or 21 percent of all runaways/thrownaways, were reported missing to police or to a missing children’s agency for purposes of locating them.  Based on 17 indicators of harm or potential risk, 1,190,900 of the runaway/thrownaway youth (71 percent) were estimated to be endangered.

And according to Colby, I (2011). In 2007, the number of homeless youth fluctuates between 1 million and 1.7 million. The number of homeless youth in any given year between 1.3 and 2.8 million. In an undated factsheet published by The National Coalition for the Homeless the number of homeless youth is reported to be approximately 1.7 million, a number similar to that reported in a 2009 New York Times article that estimated upwards of 1.6 million youth living on the streets between 2008 and 2010.

Author: Flores, R. (2005)

Source:

-Colby, Ira (2011) "Runaway and Throwaway Youth: Time for Policy Changes and Public Responsibility," Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 4. Available at: http://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/childrenatrisk/vol2/iss1/4

-U.S. Census Bureau. 2000. Monthly Postcensal Resident Population, by Single Year of Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin (e9899rmp.txt, e9999rmp.txt, and e9900rmp.txt). Web site: eire.census.gov/popest/ archives/national/nat_90s_detail/nat_90s_1.php.

-Finkelhor, D., Hotaling, G., and Sedlak, A. 1990. Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children in America. First Report: Numbers and Characteristics National Incidence Studies. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Appendix:

Author: Flores, R. (2005)