Runaways by the hundreds raise issues, challenges for Nevada agencies A teenage girl hugs her friend during a ceremony marking the graduation out of a program Dec. 15 at WestCare Nevada, an agency that works with at-risk youths. The teenage girl at right graduated and was to be leaving WestCare. Photo by Clint Karlsen. Teenage girls in the "Young Faces" or "Girls Residential" programs walk to their rooms Dec. 15 at WestCare Nevada. Photo by Clint Karlsen.

The names stay with us, like the details of a nightmare we'd much rather forget:

Karla Rodriguez. Everlyse Cabrera.

We remember them, the Natalee Holloways of the world -- the kids who just disappear.

In Nevada, more than 6,000 children are reported missing every year, according to the state attorney general's office. But if it seems inconceivable that so many young kids are getting snatched off the street by strangers, it's because they're not. Abductions by strangers might get the biggest headlines, but they represent the smallest category of missing children -- about 8 percent to 10 percent, according to Detective Sgt. Tom Wagner of the missing persons detail of the Metropolitan Police Department.

"That's why when you do get one, it's a hot-ticket item for everybody, because it's pretty rare," Wagner says. "It's not the norm. It's a child. And to everybody -- whether it's somebody who's involved in the case, a family member, friend or community member -- it's important to them. If you put yourself in their shoes, what would you do if your child was taken?"

Then again, what would you do if your child ran away?

"The hardest part," says Ken Rainey, father of a runaway son, "was three years of not knowing where he was."

"I'm in the dark," says Janie Yarberry, mother of a runaway daughter. "I'm worried. I'm scared."

Wagner estimates that 80 percent of the police department's missing children cases are runaways, or fit into the category of "unknown." Precise numbers are impossible to pin down. Runaways don't exactly show up to be counted, and only a proportion of them come under the purview of social service agencies. Kathleen Boutin, director and founder of the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, estimates that only half of them are reported missing by their parents. It's also possible, Wagner says, that "maybe the families haven't contacted us and told us their child has come back. ... I think the stats are a little deceiving."

What's irrefutable is that Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth saw at least 300 runaways last year. And WestCare, which has the only runaway shelter for adolescents in Southern Nevada, sees about 2,500 a year.

The average runaway is between the ages of 12 and 17, notes Elaine Sinnock, director of operations for Nevada Child Seekers. But, Sinnock adds, "we've actually had them as young as 9."

"One 9-year-old has run away 37 times," Wagner says. "We've seen them as young as 4 and 5 years old. It's easy to do with single-parent families, parents working different shifts."

The runaway issue is thorny for parents, law enforcement officials and social service workers because police can't simply pick up the kids and send them to juvenile detention, as some parents would like. Some officials say it's not illegal to run away from home in Nevada, while some say it is. It's a matter of semantics.

Running away from home is a status offense in Nevada. What that means, says attorney Jan Cohen, is that "by virtue of what you are -- a runaway -- you've committed a crime. (But) you haven't done anything; it's what you are."

For that reason, she says, "you cannot lock somebody up for it," although police can pick somebody up for it. In the case of a runaway younger than 12, Wagner says, the police department's missing persons detectives will respond, and they often find the child at the home of a friend.

While one segment of those involved would like to see runaways automatically returned home or confined to a locked-down environment, others maintain that many of them are abused and shouldn't be returned home or punished. Cohen was on the committee that formulated the state Right to Shelter law, which went into effect in 2001.

Before the law passed, she says, there were no shelters available for homeless youths because agencies were fearful that they could be sued successfully by a parent for aiding and abetting a runaway.

Under the provisions of the law, Cohen says, "an abused child in immediate danger (can be) provided shelter, food, a roof and so on, so that existing shelters can give shelter to these children."

The sheltering agencies, she notes, have intake sheets, asking questions such as the reason the child ran away and where he or she slept the night before, which can't be at home. The determination of whether a child is in immediate danger -- such as through abuse or neglect -- is made through a professional evaluation, she adds.

"Also, there's an attempt to notify the parents within 72 hours," Cohen says. "That's in the law."

Recourse for runaways has shifted over the years. Boutin, 39, experienced an era when runaways automatically were deemed delinquent. She was strip-searched and locked in a Henderson cell at 13, then went before a judge who sent her home.

"Nobody ever asked me what's going on," she says. "I was a good kid."

She was assigned a probation officer, who "took a liking to me because she had such a dislike for my mom." Her advice: "Graduate from high school and don't get pregnant, and no matter what, you'll be OK."

Boutin says she survived her own situation after she had to return home by graduating early and spending most of her time at school and work until she could get out on her own.

"We don't force domestic violence victims to go back to their abusers, so why do we force kids to go back?" she asks. "Our message is that these kids are not delinquents; they need help. To never ask the question, 'Why did you leave home?' is a disservice."

But that seems to be changing.

Stephanie Parker, executive director of Nevada Child Seekers, says that in the past two years emphasis has shifted and the child often is considered the victim.

"It's a case-by-case basis," she says. "We've seen incidents where we've recognized the need to ask children, 'Why did you leave?' Because we know that children do not typically run away without some type of reason. It could be merely that there's a need for parenting education, because adolescence is a very tough time and, of course, kids don't come with instructions.

"In other instances, children have said either they've been asked to leave or they feel that they're lacking something. In some instances, they feel like they've been mistreated at home. It can be abuse or neglect. Are we asking children to go back into a situation that is not healthy for them?"

Nevada Assembly Speaker-elect Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored the Right to Shelter law, says advocates made officials aware of the kids' viewpoint.

"I heard what nonprofits who work with teens say," Buckley says. "Life on the street is tough. Most of them aren't there unless things are really, really bad" at home.

But, Buckley adds, the philosophy of social service agencies and law enforcement officials is to attempt family reunification whenever possible.

"We debated this line during the Right to Shelter law hearings," she recalls. "I think that the sentiment -- and it was pretty unanimous: north, south, rural, Republican, Democrat -- where the kid's having a difficult time, you want to try to reunite that kid with their family. Where there's circumstances where there's abuse, where the parent has a significant drug or alcohol problem ... you want to have the nonprofits work with that kid, see if it's a relationship that can be bridged.

"Teenage years are tough. Kids are rebellious. Some children and their parents do not get along well during their teenage years, and you don't want a kid putting their lives at risk because they're mad at their parents."

"If it is in the best interest of the kid to be at home and they left for normal family reasons, we can facilitate" a return home, Boutin says.

In some cases, reuniting with the family might not mean returning to live with the parents, if that relationship is untenable. Boutin says Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth frequently pays travel expenses for runaways to go to live with a family member in another area.

But even for teens without any accommodating family members, there are alternatives to the street.

Candace Kidd, deputy administrator for WestCare Nevada, says the agency works with youths who walk in because they're in crisis, or are brought in by the police or their parents.

"It's pretty much an open-door policy for any child who has run away or is homeless, abused or neglected," she says, "for kids who don't have an immediate place to go."

Agency funding guidelines outline a maximum stay of two weeks, Kidd says, "but that's never a barrier. As long as they need to be in a safe haven, they can stay here," and some have stayed as long as four months.

Kidd says if a child alleges abuse or neglect, the agency is required by law to report it to Child Protective Services of the Nevada Division of Child and Family Services.

"They would do an investigation," she says. "If it sounds at all like it's a possibility, we're going to report it. We're going to err on the side of caution. It's only our job to report suspicion, not to substantiate."

In the case of youngsters who can't go home or to another relative, alternative placement might be sought, Kidd says, in the form of a foster home or group home.

"Or independent living, depending on the age," she adds. Teens 16 and older can apply for housing through the Center for Independent Living.

But, Kidd says, most runaways whom the agency sees don't need to be removed from the home.

"Generally, with the kids who are in crisis, there's been a conflict, there's been a blowup," Kidd says. "It's more an immediate crisis. That would be true for maybe 80 percent of the kids that we see. In those cases, we would offer crisis intervention; individual, group and family counseling. The goal would be to resolve the immediate situation."

Parker says Nevada Child Seekers offers parents an assessment of family and child.

"We're not an agency that can force that, but of course it's a recommendation," she says. "A lot of times, parents will take us up on it.

"Because our psychologist is a mandated reporter, if there are things that are uncovered, he reports them."

But she points out that no one can compel the families of runaways to enter counseling. And "there's not a lot of services out there for them if they're having trouble dealing with their teenager."

Parker says families are referred to the Clark County Parenting Project, which assists with parenting skills.

"We have a list of referrals for camps for children, and we've got a guy who's searched out all the different program camps from this part of the country," she says. "He tries to find (places) that actually work with the parents on a sliding fee scale or something their insurance may cover."

Parents also are offered a list of counseling opportunities, "just so they have the choice."

Another alternative for runaways is to go to a Terrible Herbst station, all of which have been designated as Safe Places at the request of the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, to which they're referred. "We have a whole continuum of care that we can give them," Boutin says.

Former runaway Krystal Campangna provides a tour of the agency's Drop-In Center at 4800 S. Maryland Parkway, where she works.

There's a computer lab where children can do homework, and a clothes pantry where homeless youngsters -- as well as foster kids in need -- can take whatever items of clothing they need. There also are sleeping bags for kids who are on the streets.

A respite room, where teens are allowed to stay as long as two hours, contains a shower, washer and dryer, music keyboard, air hockey game, television and microwave.

All runaways who come to the drop-in center are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

The agency also owns three condos, where nine runaways can be housed.

"The nine kids that we serve are being raised there," Boutin says. "We do what parents should do."

Terrible Herbst, she says, employs each of the kids.

"We put a lot of emphasis on the future," she says. "We don't talk about the past."

But the question remains: Why are so many kids running away?

Boutin estimates that in 90 percent of the cases she sees, it's because of a family situation that's either abusive, neglectful or extremely dysfunctional. "Kids don't just wake up one day and decide to be bad kids," she says.

"I think it's got a lot to do with our society," Wagner says, "and our willingness to allow kids to have ownership of themselves. Not watching your kids, not being around for your kids.

"If you needed a license to be a parent, we wouldn't have very many licensed parents."

"I think we're too easy on them," says Sue Rainey, Ken's wife and the mother of a runaway son.

"I think society is too easy on them," adds Ginny Johnson, the mother of a former runaway.

"Sometimes you wonder where you went wrong," Ken Rainey says. "Too strict or too lenient? Susan was always looking for backup, and I was always looking the other way."

He also blames external forces, such as the Internet.

"Internet seduction is a tough one because most parents aren't computer literate," Rainey says.

But Wagner brings the issue back to the parents.

"I know every one of our passwords for MySpace, instant messaging, the Internet," he says. "Dad's gonna check. Even with that being said, I've caught my youngest one doing and saying inappropriate things. You can imagine what the kids who are not being monitored are doing."

Boutin acknowledges that in many cases, the parents are well-intentioned. "They have a good heart, just not the skill set to know how to handle their kids," she says.

In other cases, she adds, the parents' partners are the problem -- mothers who don't know that their boyfriends are abusing their children or who put the boyfriends' needs over the needs of the children.

One thing is certain: "Every one of these kids puts themselves at risk, and they don't realize it," Rainey says.

"Any child who's out on the street or even at a friend's house, they're at risk," says Sinnock of Nevada Child Seekers. "Kids are very vulnerable, especially the type of child who runs away from home. They're running away because something's wrong with home, whether it's the fact that they don't follow the rules or they don't get along with a stepparent.

"It make them vulnerable to someone who wants to prey on a child." Which, she adds, can include "prostitution, drugs -- exploitation by people who are street-smart."

"We work on the assumption that if a child is missing, they're not safe," Sinnock says. "And if they're not safe, they need to be in a safe place."

Boutin says a recent study found that 35 percent of homeless men reported having been homeless youths. Runaway kids are the face of the future, whether as part of mainstream society or not.

"Our ultimate goal is to protect children," Parker says. "The children have to be the number one priority."