News

More needs to be done to reach and safeguard detached children

3rd of June 2010

Destitute runaway children are joining gangs for security and protection according to a children's charity, The Railway Children.

Its study, Off the Radar, found half of the male children interviewed were gang members. Two-thirds of all the children had been victims of street violence and for more than one in ten domestic abuse was part of family life.

The study lists deprivation, family breakdown, the lack of positive role models, school exclusion and the need for protection on the streets among the many reasons young runaways seek the security they lack at home in gangs.

It concludes that aattempts to access hard-to-reach families have not been successful and that it is time to accept that something more needs to be done to reach and safeguard detached children and young people and provide them with alternatives.

The charity is calling on government to undertake a national review of youth service to make clear the responsibilities of local authorities in protecting young people who run away from home. 

To access Off the Radar please click here