In 1999, an estimated 1,682,900 youth had a runaway/ thrownaway episode.
Of these youth, 37 percent were missing from their caretakers and 21
percent were reported to authorities for purposes of locating them.
Of the total runaway/thrownaway youth, an estimated 1,190,900 (71
percent) could have been endangered during their runaway/thrownaway
episode by virtue of factors such as substance dependency, use of hard
drugs, sexual or physical abuse, presence in a place where criminal
activity was occurring, or extremely young age (13 years old or younger).
Youth ages 15–17 made up two-thirds of the youth with runaway/thrownaway
episodes during the study year.
There is suggestive evidence that the runaway problem may have been
smaller in 1999 than it was in 1988.
