By skyforbes 
Resources for Help
Boys Town
- Hotline number: 1a800a448a3000
- Text: VOICE to 20121
- Send Email
First founded in 1921, Boys Town has a long tradition of helping homeless and runaway youth. Open to boys and girls, ages, 10 to 18, Boys Town has youth runaway programs in different locations across the country.
Each Boys Town location provides in-home family services, parenting classes, behavioral therapies, and teen residential treatment homes. Here’s a little more detail on their treatment home services and their website where teens can reach out for help on their own:
Family Home Program – If you’re a parent who’s having difficulty with a teen or fear your teen is at risk of running away, the Boys Town Family Home Program may be able to help. Teens reside in what are called single-family homes made up of six to eight boys or girls. Each home is run by married couples, called “Family-Teachers,” and full-time Assistant Family-Teachers. Family Homes are nurturing, structured environments where teens receive behavioral guidance while learning to communicate and interact with others in healthy, constructive ways.
Teens attend school year-round, carry out household chores, and participate in school-based extracurricular activities. The Family-Teachers and Assistant Family-Teacher’s roles entail providing round-the-clock supervision for the children or teens, assisting teens with their daily living responsibilities, and acting as liaisons for the teachers and parents to ensure parents are kept abreast of their child’s progress in school and at home.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
- Hotline Number: 1a800a799aSAFE(7233)
- TTY: 1a800a787a3224
- Video Phone Only for Deaf Callers: 1a206a518a9361
- Chat Hotline: https://www.thehotline.org/#
The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides emergency assistance for adult and teen victims of domestic violence involving spouses, parents, and siblings, dating violence, and patterns of physical abuse that take place in the general public. Hotline representatives provide service referrals to all 50 states, including Guam, the U. S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.
Assistance referrals cover a wide range of services, including:
- Crisis intervention
- Connecting callers with local youth runaway shelters and adult shelters
- Safety planning
- Legal assistance
- Elder abuse assistance
- Economic self-sufficiency programs
- Domestic violence education
Safe Place
Safe Place, another program administered by National Runaway Safeline, provides runaway teenagers with safe places to go during times of crisis. Safe Place consists of a network of community-based partners, such as police stations, hospital emergency rooms, local youth service providers, and fire stations where runaway teenagers can go for help. A licensed, Safe Place community partner will display a bright yellow and black, diamond-shaped sign with the words “Safe Place” in the center of the sign.
Once teens locate a Safe Place, they can tell an employee who works there what they need. The employee will then contact a local Safe Place representative who will meet with the teen. From there, the representative provides the teen with the help he or she needs, be it counseling, family mediation, or a referral to a youth-runaway shelter.
Teens can also text the word “SAFE” to 4HELP (44357) along with their city, state, zip code, and address to find the nearest Safe Place location. There’s also an option to chat via text with a professional.
Covenant House
Phone: 1a800a388a3888 (Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 4:00 EST)
Find a Shelter: https://www.covenanthouse.org/homeless-shelters
Covenant House offers all-around support for homeless teenagers, providing a continuum of care through their services and programs for homeless and runaway youth. Their approach is designed to help teens get back on their feet and become independent. Here are a few of the services Covenant House offers:
- Teen homeless shelters
- Educational programs
- Job training and placement
- Substance use disorder counseling
- Medical care
- Mental health care
- Legal services
Covenant House also has a street outreach team that not only connects homeless teenagers with the help they need but also offers warm blankets and food. Once a teen gets situated in one of their shelters, they can then take advantage of Covenant House’s transitional housing program. Covenant House shelters are located across the United States, parts of Canada, Honduras, and Guatemala.
BCP (Basic Center Program)
Through the BCP, community-based programs are able to provide help to teens that have run away or are homeless in many ways. In addition to providing services, BCP works to help kids reunite with their families or find alternative options. Other services include: As long as 21 days of shelter, crisis intervention, shelter, clothing and food, counseling, and programs that keep track of kids after they leave the program.
For more information and to find locations, visit Family and Youth Services Bureau
TLP (Transitional Living Program for Homeless Youth)
The TLP program works to provide homeless youth with stable and safe shelter for as long as 21 months. They also work to help kids get the skills they need to live healthy, productive lives as adults.
If you are between 16 and 22, and live in a shelter, or are homeless, you likely qualify for this program.
MGH (Maternity Group Homes for Pregnant and Parenting Youth)
The MGH program works to help community-based programs provide resources and facilities to young people who are pregnant or parenting, as well as their dependent children. MGH programs work to teach Family budgeting, parenting skills, nutrition and health, and child development. They also work to provide benefits that include: Parenting education that includes child safety and discipline, resources that help young people find affordable, safe, and reliable child care, living accommodations for both transitional and independent stages that are safe for children, and educational resources such as preparing for GED, vocational education and post-secondary training.
Applicants must be between 16 and 22 to qualify.
SOP (Street Outreach Program)
The goal of the Street Outreach Program is to help local outreach workers form bonds with homeless and runaway teens in the community so the trust between youth and adults can be rebuilt and the chances that sexual exploitation of young people in these situations can be reduced. SOP offers tools and resources to support finding these young people suitable, stable housing and offer necessary services. Some of the services that SOP offers include access to emergency shelters, crisis intervention, counseling and treatment, street-based outreach and education, and additional ongoing support.
For more information, or to find a facility that supports the Street Outreach Program near you, visit Family and Youth Services Bureau.