CYP Now - Opinion: Debate - Do councils do enough to look after young runaways?

A new campaign from The Children's Society claims that only a third of local authorities have policies in place to deal with young runaways and just seven out of 150 have fully implemented the Government's recommendations.

NO - Natalie Cronin, NSPCC policy advisor

Running away is a desperate cry for help - and not responding to it is to badly fail those children. Local authorities that don't have policies in place to deal with this issue are failing to identify and deal with both the causes and the consequences of running away, for example, runaways are seven times more likely to have been abused. The consequences of this inaction may be far-reaching, with greater problems in the child's future such as involvement with crime, drug addiction and prostitution.

NO - Ian Johnston, director of the British Association of Social Workers

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