What to do If Your Child Runs Away ?
Youth run away for many reasons: to protest against family rules / conditions; assert their independence; get a fresh start; to flee an abusive environment; familial breakdown; peer pressure; job opportunities; mental health / addictions issues. For the most part, youth believe running away is the best solution to a seemingly unbearable situation. Generally speaking, the child leaves voluntarily without the permission of the parent or guardian. We hope the information below will help you to find your child.
1. Telephone and Internet Search
Call family members, relatives and friends to help you. It is important to leave your line free in case your child calls home. Encourage your helpers to use their phone to conduct the telephone searches. Call your child’s friends and school to see if you can find out anything about the runaway. Verify Social Media Accounts. Parents should check Facebook and the last time their child logged on and messaged friends or posted something in the news thread.
2. Land Search
Have some of your family members and friends to do a basic land search. Go through the neighbourhood area and places where your child might be. Places to check include:
- Your home – including the attic, basement, sheds, etc.
- Your child’s routes from school
- School or school yards
- Favourite places to “hangout”
- Shopping malls / corner stores
- Bus stops / bus terminals
- Community centres / drop-in centres
- Parks / play areas / sport facilities
- Homes of your child’s friends, neighbour, and relatives
- Video arcades / hobby shops
- Ex-spouse’s home (if applicable)
3. Call the police
Do not wait too long before contacting your local police about the missing child. The police will put your child description and runaway information into the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) computer system so all police forces in Canada will know that the child is missing.
At the request of the investigating police officer, the child may also be entered on the United States system (NCIC). Depending on your geographical location, the police may wish to notify border crossing and ferry-rail-airport facilities.
Provide the police with detailed information on your child. This includes:
- Child’s name
- Recent CLEAR photographs
- Height and weight information
- Description and location of scars, birthmarks
- Other identifiable descriptions, such as hair colour, glasses, earrings, braces
- Date and location of where your child was last seen
- The last person your child might have talked to before he / she ran away
You may consider requesting an Apprehension Warrant or Form “2” at your local Justice of Peace’s office, if you believe the youth in question will either harm him / herself or others. This optional process, although sometimes not necessary, will give the police more authority to pick up the youth.
4. Contact Operation Come Home 1-800-668-4663
Operation Come Home maintains a list of missing youth. When filing the missing report with us, we will ask you to provide us with the same types of information as outlined above for the police. The report is further distributed to various youth serving agencies in the city. These youth agencies can make sure the youth is safe, and inform the police of the youth’s whereabouts.
Operation Come Home has a team of dedicated outreach volunteers that walk around in the downtown Ottawa in the evenings. These outreach crews give out supplies such as socks, granola bars, gloves, condoms and other essential items. The outreach crews are the eyes and ears of Operation Come Home; they talk to youth on the street and ask if any of the youth have seen the missing person. The outreach volunteers will then relay all the information to police services.
Remember:
You have done all you can, stay calm and look after yourself.
Useful links
The following links are provided as a courtesy service to assist you in locating additional sources for more detailed information. Operation Come Home is not responsible for information obtained from other sources. To report problems with links or to suggest new links, please email us at info@operationcomehome.ca
| WEBSITE | Organization | Features |
| https://missingkids.ca/en/ | Missing Kids Canada | Canada’s information and resource centre on missing children |
| https://www.1800runaway.org/ | National Runaway Safeline | Support line for runaways and parents |
| https://www.canadianhumantraffickinghotline.ca/ | Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline | If you fear your child may be trafficked contact their hotline 1-833-900-1010 |
| www.positiveparenting.com | Positive parenting, Ventura, CA (U.S.) | Resources & information, workshops, bulletin board, Live Chat |
| www.freevibe.com | National Youth Anti-Drug Media | Advice for parents, children and teens |
| https://mcsc.ca/investigations/my-child-is-missing/ | Missing Children Society of Canada | Helps parents of runaway youth |
| http://www.childcybersearch.org | For abducted children | Locate abducted children |