[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Page 21387]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   NATIONAL RUNAWAY PREVENTION MONTH

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today to commend the Senate for 
passing S. Res. 430, a resolution designating November 2004 as National 
Runaway Prevention Month. National Runaway Prevention Month is a public 
education initiative to increase awareness of issues facing runaways. 
This resolution will sensitize the public about solutions to the 
runaway dilemma and educate them on the role they play in preventing 
youth from running away.
  Runaway and ``throwaway'' episodes among our Nation's youth are a 
widespread problem, with one out of every seven children and youth in 
the United States running away or being turned out of their home before 
the age of 18. A recent study by the Department of Justice's Office of 
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention estimates that nearly 1.7 
million youth experienced a runaway or throwaway episode in a single 
year. The primary causal factors of running away or being turned out 
are severe family conflict, abuse and neglect, and parental abuse of 
alcohol and drugs.
  All of the conditions that lead young people to leave or be turned 
out of their homes are preventable. However, we need to make 
interventions available to strengthen families and support youth in 
high-risk situations. Successful interventions are grounded in 
partnerships among families, community-based human service agencies, 
law enforcement agencies, schools, faith-based organizations, and 
businesses.
  Preventing young people from running away and supporting youth in 
high-risk situations are a family, community, and national 
responsibility. Please join us in increasing public attention to the 
challenges that youth are facing today and in encouraging all Americans 
to play a role in supporting the millions of young people who have run 
away from their home environments or who are at-risk of doing so each 
year.

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