The Tumbleweed Runaway Program in Billings, Montana connects with nearly 10,000 young people each year who have run away and are living on the streets. That’s a high number for any city, but especially for a place like Billings, whose population is just over 100,000. And Billings is just one of many cities battling this growing problem.
“National Runaway statistics show that one in seven kids between the ages of 10 and 18 will run away at some point. As many as 3 million runaway and homeless kids are living on the streets in the United States. The National Runaway Switchboard reports that 55 percent of at-risk teens call in to the hotline while in crisis and already living on the streets.” [Source: The Billings Outpost]
Billings’ Tumbleweed Runaway Program aims to help young people resolve the conflicts and problems that cause them to runaway, in hopes of preventing some from ending up on the streets, where they are at risk of being sexually exploited or otherwise abused.
Has your child run away or exhibited other forms of defiant behaviors? If so, a summer stay in a therapeutic wilderness program may provide the intervention and structure that your teen needs to get back on the right track.
Labels: runaways
Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton