None
National Runaway Safe operates through their 24-hours per day, 7 days per week crisis services, an extensive database of over 6,500 local resources across the country, and valuable prevention and education tools. The NRS works to keep America’s youth safe and off the streets. Serving as the national crisis and communication system for runaway, homeless and at-risk youth, they respond to youth and families in crisis through our hotline (1-800-RUNAWAY) and online services (1800RUNAWAY.org), including chat, email and forum services. Each year, they connect over 125,000 people to help and hope through these free, confidential services. More details into the services and programs they provide are as follows:
Crisis Intervention: National Runaway Safe (NRS) operates a confidential hotline (1-800-RUNAWAY) and online crisis services (1800RUNAWAY.org), including live chat, text, emails, and forum, 24-hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. Their team of trained staff and volunteers provides non-judgmental, non-sectarian, and non-directive support, empowering contacts to develop a plan of action to improve their situation.
Information and Referrals: With the largest database of youth and family resources in the nation (over 6,500), NRS provides options for callers to access local resources such as counseling and shelter services, alcohol/drug treatment, and child protective services.
Message Service: The NRS maintains a message service for youth who want to relay a message, but are not ready to communicate directly with their parent or guardian. The NRS message service often serves as the first step toward reestablishing contact between young people and their families.
Home Free: In partnership with Greyhound Lines, Inc., NRS helps reunite qualified runaway or homeless youth ages 12-21 with their families or travel to an alternative living arrangement by providing a free bus ticket.
Let's Talk: Runaway Prevention Curriculum: This fourteen-module, interactive curriculum is intended to help youth build life skills, increase knowledge about runaway resources and prevention, provide realistic alternatives to running away, and encourage youth to seek help from trusted community members.
Prevention and Educational Materials: The NRS provides free educational materials to individuals, schools, and organizations to distribute within their community, available for download on their website or via mail delivery.
Online Resources: The NRS’ website, 1800RUNAWAY.org, fulfills several purposes: to provide online crisis intervention to direct callers to the hotline so that youth and families can receive individualized support, to provide critical information before a runaway episode occurs, and to disseminate information about NRS nationally. National Runaway Safeline is committed to keeping America’s runaway, homeless and at-risk youth safe and off the streets. Between 1.6 and 2.8 million youth run away in a year.
Services are provided in part through funding from the Family and Youth Services Bureau in the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
