What does a runaway look like

Young people who run away:
• Do sometimes pack their bags and leave for a new town or city, but not that often.

• More often they leave the house after an argument or row and are presumed to be staying with friends.

• If a family is rowing to the point where an issue can’t be resolved and a young person storms out and doesn’t come back, this is likely to increase and become the norm’.

• A young person may  be away from home more and more, returning for a change of clothes, food and money.

• Friendships become strained as a young person is dependent on friends for a place to stay.

• A young person ends up sofa surfing and may be staying with people they do not know well or have recently met.

• They are likely to use unsafe survival strategies so that they can eat and have somewhere to stay.

This is what running away in Dorset often looks like.