Runaways and Governmental Support

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

A poll inspired by an AIM chat with a friend of mine right now, who was watching a documentary on the sex trade in the United States: should the government step in to assist runaway teens (besides locking them up or putting them in the foster-care system)?

Believe it or not, this is one form of socialism I would not mind. These poor, unfortunate kids, whether or not they are in this mess of their own making (which is debatable--rarely do kids run away from stable homes) don't have a lot of options on the streets and deserve a hand. If they want to eat, their options are pretty much to enter the porn industry or become prostitutes/sex slaves. I don't have a problem with giving these poor kids an apartment and a $500 or whatever/month aid check so that they can finish school and get their lives on track. The alternative is unthinkable. Nobody deserves to be sold into whoredom for the rest of their lives just so that they won't starve.

Chaimfan

[~Hanna~]

I used to work for an organization that does this, actually.....

They do many other things, also, for the kids.....

They even operate a 24 hour shelter downtown.....for the kids....and then offer them other services (such as above, food, clothing, etc).

They have so many good things going......

Yes, I think it's a good idea....

The love of many is growing cold and human life is not valued much any more...

Kids (and even adults) are exploited like this, a horrible industry.....

Not enough people care, in my opinion.......

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

Are you by chance thinking of the Dream Center in Hollywood?

[NRAJ]

I was watching this same thing tonight CF and it chilled me to the bone.I believe runaways should be help depending on their situation.The teenage girls in the show weren't runways though,they had been kidnapped and forced into prostitution.It was extremely gruesome.

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

Yeah, some are kidnapped, but others are runaways. Stopping the sex trade seems to be the least priority in the minds of any governmental institution. Destitute, homeless kids don't exactly make for big campaign donors.

[~Hanna~]

Are you by chance thinking of the Dream Center in Hollywood?

No, it's called Janus Youth Programs, in Portland, Oregon. I used to work for them as a Residential Counselor...in one of their shelters.

Here is their website, it barely scratches the surfice of everything that they have available....

http://www.janusyouth.org/what-we-do.php

[Dr. Dan]

i don't want to pay my tax dollars for teens who run away from home..I would rather there be a non profit charity...

[~Hanna~]

i don't want to pay my tax dollars for teens who run away from home..I would rather there be a non profit charity...

Some of them are running away from horrible abuse, etc....some really bad things, you would not believe, well, maybe you would, but some of them really have a good reason to leave.....(rape, etc).

[Dr. Dan]

i don't want to pay my tax dollars for teens who run away from home..I would rather there be a non profit charity...

Some of them are running away from horrible abuse, etc....some really bad things, you would not believe, well, maybe you would, but some of them really have a good reason to leave.....(rape, etc).

by all means true.. but i would rather to give on my own than a govt funded program

[~Hanna~]

i don't want to pay my tax dollars for teens who run away from home..I would rather there be a non profit charity...

Some of them are running away from horrible abuse, etc....some really bad things, you would not believe, well, maybe you would, but some of them really have a good reason to leave.....(rape, etc).

by all means true.. but i would rather to give on my own than a govt funded program

Yes, you and the others here are of the few that care that much, I would imagine....

But this place I worked at, is a non-profit......the Director, Dennis Morrow, started this organization from the ground up because the city needed something to address the ongoing problems with the kids, there was nothing.

People didn't really care that much.

[Rubystars]

Here's how it should be done. Private charities (both religious and nonreligious) should be doing this work, with matching state funds. If it's run by a government agency it will be run poorly and also the entire cost will be a tax burden.

[~Hanna~]

Here's how it should be done. Private charities (both religious and nonreligious) should be doing this work, with matching state funds. If it's run by a government agency it will be run poorly and also the entire cost will be a tax burden.

Yes. Well, the place I worked at is a private/non-profit. They seem to be doing much good. 

It's difficult with runaways, because they have a tendency to move from city to city every 5 or 6 months or so.

They are difficult to help.

[Rubystars]

Here's how it should be done. Private charities (both religious and nonreligious) should be doing this work, with matching state funds. If it's run by a government agency it will be run poorly and also the entire cost will be a tax burden.

Yes. Well, the place I worked at is a private/non-profit. They seem to be doing much good. 

It's difficult with runaways, because they have a tendency to move from city to city every 5 or 6 months or so.

They are difficult to help.

It would be good if they could be helped to get a job that's lucrative enough to help them stay in one place for a bit.

[~Hanna~]

Here's how it should be done. Private charities (both religious and nonreligious) should be doing this work, with matching state funds. If it's run by a government agency it will be run poorly and also the entire cost will be a tax burden.

Yes. Well, the place I worked at is a private/non-profit. They seem to be doing much good. 

It's difficult with runaways, because they have a tendency to move from city to city every 5 or 6 months or so.

They are difficult to help.

It would be good if they could be helped to get a job that's lucrative enough to help them stay in one place for a bit.

Yes, but many of them don't WANT to stay in one place for very long, the reason being is that they RAN away from home and someone is usually looking for them and sometimes they don't want to go back to that situation.

That is the main reason they move every 6 months or so, so as to not get caught.