Why do most foster children run away from their foster homes?

Some foster children are runners and have developed a pattern before even entering foster care, of running away to avoid any interaction with the adults in their lives. They can become familiar with other runners living on the street and thus, running away from problems becomes the habitual thing to do. read more

Most foster children do not run away from their foster homes. Perhaps this question is badly worded. Those children who do run away from foster homes do so for a variety of reasons, some of which have to do with the foster home, some which are about the child, and some are about their family of origin. read more

Runaways from foster are not rare. Preliminary estimates are that of the 423,773 U.S. children in foster care on September 30, 2009, 8,047 (2%) had a “runaway” status (CWIG, 2011). Most children who run away from foster care return or are found. read more