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Chances are if you or someone you know has runaway then you could be facing the possibility of having little or no money. Over half of all runaways do not plan financially to runaway and are left on the streets or at the mercy of food banks or shelters. This makes it difficult should you or your friend wish to return home. Bus tickets, airfare and car rides can be expensive. Recently the government has implemented a program that ensures that all runaways can return home safely.
The Home Free Program was put into place to make sure that all runaways, age 12 to 20, when they decide to come home have the ability to get there and not have to worry about the financial burden that can come with having to buy a bus ticket home.
The way the program works is that runaways who wish to come home must first call the National Runaway Switchboard. The trained professionals on the other end will talk with the runaway about why they ran away and what some of the issues were. They will discuss with the runaway their wish to come home and help in making that a possibility.
The national switchboard will arrange for the runaway to talk with their parents and discuss coming home. From there once the first contact has been made the national switchboard will work to purchase a free ticket back to the runaway’s home town.
The Home Free Program will also make sure that the runaway and their family has the resources that they need to work through their issues. It will provide counseling services and other means to help them mend their relationship. The program will also follow up with the family to see how things are going and if there is anyway that they can help either with follow up care of through counseling services.
