[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 20589]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCTION OF A RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF 
                     RUNAWAY YOUTH PREVENTION MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JUDY BIGGERT

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 10, 2002

  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleague from New 
York, Mr. Israel, in introducing a resolution recognizing the goals and 
ideals of Runaway Youth Prevention Month, which is being sponsored by 
the National Network for Youth and the National Runaway Switchboard.
  Recently, a number of highly publicized child abductions focused the 
attention of Americans on the plight of exploited and abducted 
children, and the pain and agony suffered by the families left behind.
  Recognizing the serious threat that faces our children every day as 
they travel to and from school and play with friends in parks and 
neighborhoods, President Bush last week convened a conference on 
missing, exploited and runaway children.
  Again, the main focus was on abducted and exploited children. And 
rightly so. One child abduction is one too many.
  But let's put the problem of child abductions into perspective. Five 
times as many children run away as are abducted in this country, and 
one runaway child is also one too many.
  There are approximately 1.3 million young Americans on the street 
every day as a result of running away and/or homelessness. One in seven 
children between the ages of 10-18 will run away. Some will return 
within a few days, while others will remain on the streets and never 
return. And each year, assault, illness or suicide will take the lives 
of 5,000 runaway youth. That's 5,000 too many.
  There are many reasons why children run away from home. Some are 
expelled from their homes by their families, or separated from their 
parents because of death or divorce. As much as violence is involved in 
the abduction of a child, so too does physical, sexual, and emotional 
abuse at home often cause a child to run away.
  Having run away, these youth are now homeless, too poor to secure 
their own basic needs, and are often ineligible or unable to access 
medical or mental health resources.
  Many runaway youth also have difficulty obtaining an education 
because they are homeless. Being a runaway or being without a home 
should not mean being without an education. Yet that is what 
homelessness means for far too many of our poor and runaway children 
and youth today.
  Congress recognized the importance of educating homeless and runaway 
youth when it enacted in 1987 the McKinney Education program. But 
despite the progress made over the past decade, we know that homeless 
children continue to miss out on what often is the only source of 
stability and promise in their lives--school attendance.
  That's why I introduced H.R. 623, the McKinney-Vento Homeless 
Education Act of 2001, which was included in the No Child Left Behind 
Act that became law at the beginning of this year.
  By incorporating the innovative provisions contained in my 
legislation, H.R. 1 strengthened the McKinney program, ensuring that a 
homeless or runaway child is immediately enrolled in school. That means 
no red tape, no waiting for paperwork, and no bureaucratic delays. A 
school liaison helps runaway or homeless youth make certain decisions 
about their education, and upon enrollment, ensures they have access to 
the special assistance and services available to runaway and homeless 
youth.
  This is one small way that more is being done to help children who 
are runaways or homeless. There are many others--individuals and 
organizations--who are doing whatever they can to assist America's 
runaway youth by providing food, shelter, clothing, and counseling. 
Others are working with families to prevent a child from running away 
in the first place. And still others are intervening and advocating on 
behalf of children and giving them options other than running away.
  One such organization is the National Runaway Switchboard, which 
provides crisis intervention and referrals to reconnect runaway youth 
with their families, and to link young people to local resources that 
provide positive alternatives to running. I am compelled to call 
attention to this important resource because it originated in Chicago.
  Founded by a group of Chicago agencies, the National Runaway 
Switchboard was established in 1971 to provide comprehensive crisis 
intervention services for young people in Chicago. It was conceived as 
a centralized organization with free, 24-hour services, expertise in 
all youth-related issues, and as an information clearinghouse. In 1974, 
it became a national resource, and now is the federally designated 
national communication system for runaway and homeless youth. The 
Switchboard is still available 24 hours a day, and fields more than 
100,000 calls each year from the nation's runaway and homeless youth.
  The National Runaway Switchboard and the National Network for Youth 
have designated November as National Runaway Prevention Month. The 
purpose of this month is to call attention to the problem, its causes 
and impacts, and all those organizations and services that exist to 
help both runaways and their families.
  It is fitting for Congress to support the goals and ideals of 
National Runaway Prevention Month, and I urge my colleagues to 
cosponsor this resolution.

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