Switched-On :: Blog

The National Runaway Switchboard helps youth in crisis and the adults in their lives resolve certain issues and connect to resources near their area.

Among the youth the National Runaway Switchboard serves, youth who have been exploited by often abusive employers confront the danger of being hurt if caught trying to escape from their employer’s grasp. Youth who have run away from home or have been kicked out of their home fall prey to the efforts of these employers, known as exploiters of youth labor, to recruit them for a job. These exploiters often pay their youth labor poorly if at all, and force them to live under dire conditions.

Crisis workers on the NRS hotline can help youth who find themselves in this situation get out of it.

- Allyson

If you or someone you know is considering running away from home, or have been kicked out or run away from home, call 1-800-RUNAWAY to talk with a crisis worker to help you, confidentially and without judgment.

Sometimes, just talking about your plans with a third party can be really helpful. If you’re seriously considering running away, going over what you’re thinking, and your reasons for leaving home with our hotline can help you work through the problem. Crisis workers at the National Runaway Switchboard can also connect you to services near where you are that can help you directly.

If your child has run away from home or has gone missing, we can assist you with how to go about finding your child and connect you to services that can notify the public of your child’s missing status.

Our hotline has crisis workers on the line 24/7.

- Allyson

The idea of being stranded is really scary. Whether it’s on an island, in a store, or in another state, feeling disconnected and alone is traumatizing. For runaways, this trauma is exacerbated by the fact that they don’t usually have a network to rely on for food and shelter. They’re separated from people they know, and often don’t have any money. In this situation, the Home Free program is incredibly useful. Through a Greyhound partnership, the National Runaway Switchboard is able to offer free trips home to youth. Not everyone qualifies, but over 13,000 runaways have been helped through the Home Free program. Recently, the Home Free program has been offering Home Free kits, as well as tickets, so that youth returning home get food vouchers, a journal, and hygienic products. NRS is at the ready, 24/7, to help youth who want to get back home.

- Will

I really can’t count how many times I’ve picked up the phone at the National Runaway Switchboard to hear someone ask for help finding a resource. Whether its food, or shelter, or money to help get back home, sometimes people don’t need to have a conversation with you, they need something concrete and tangible. When this happens, I immediately turn to the NRS resource database. Thousands of organizations that are capable of providing assistance to callers are listed, and I can search and sort using any criteria I want, like the area of the organization, or the ages they serve. Then, NRS can do a conference call with the caller and the resource, to make sure everything works out. It’s really amazing how problems can be solved with a couple phone calls, and it’s one of the best feelings to find someone the exact resource they need. For anybody struggling to survive, for whatever reason, one call to the National Runaway Switchboard – 1-800-RUNAWAY – could dramatically improve their situation.

- Will