RUNAWAYS

running to family members. Also, they are living in “ ght, ight or freeze” mode, a constant state of stress. Children are typically “dysregulated at the time of a run” and are “unable to access parts of their brain that allow them to make rational decisions and understand consequences,” according to the study. ey run when they are triggered by upsetting events. ey run because they are not connected to sta members and they’re seeking connection. ey feel ignored and unseen. Some run to nd drugs or alcohol. Many run to a place of familiarity, the study found. Children are placed in residential treatment centers either because they are in foster care due to abuse and neglect, or because their behavioral and mental health issues are beyond their parents’ control.

In the past few years, updates in state law and regulation have attempted to strike a balance between children’s safety and the use of restraints and seclusion. One new law came in response to concern that the youth corrections division was relying too heavily on solitary connement and straitjackets to control behavior. Other state regulations say that residential treatment center sta cannot use physical restraint on children in out-of-home placements unless there is imminent danger to themselves or others.

Sta interviewed for the study said they want the state to de ne “immi- nent danger” so they have a clearer understanding of when they are allowed to prevent a child from running either by restraining them or physically blocking a doorway. ey also want help from the Colorado Department of Human Services, which includes the child welfare division, in creating better collaboration between youth residential facilities and local law enforcement o cers who respond when children try to run. e law that prevents physical intervention leaves no room for what a parent would want, sta complained.

Workers also reported that when they write required reports about children running from a center, they take the blame, feeling “the assumption was that they had not done everything in their power to keep youth from running.” Often, the only option is calling the police.

“If I was the mother of one of those children, I would want a voice,” one sta member reported to the study authors. “I don’t think we listen to our families enough in that interpretation. I used to get numerous phone calls, ‘How do you let my kid run away? I put him there for him to be safe. How can you just say that you guys let them walk away?’”

Kids who have run away say that when they are returned to residential centers they feel like they are punished, the study found. “Like you can’t change your clothes. You can’t wear shoes. You have to wear your slides. You have to only wear scrubs,” one child said. “You can’t wear your personal clothes. You’ll be separated, so you won’t be with the unit.”

One child described it plainly — they run because they want to go home.

“I honestly just didn’t want to sit here and do another six months of treatment,” the child said. “It’s really hard because a lot of us, me, we, have so many people at home that we care about. For my speci c situation, I have two little sisters, and I’m missing my little sister’s rst days of kindergarten, and she’s getting bul- lied in school right now. And I have to hear about it over a phone. It really sucks. So, I guess I just wanted to leave. at’s pretty much why I ran.” e task force is named for Timmy Montoya-Kloepfel, who was 12 when he ran from Tennyson Center for Children in Denver in June 2020 and died after he was hit by a Chevy Tahoe. His mother did not know for 26 hours where he had gone after running from the center. eir deaths and the escalating runaway problem at some residential child care facilities sparked calls for investigation and allegations from residential centers that they were su ering from years of inadequate state funding. Some called for review of state regulations that prohibit centers from locking their doors or using physical force to prevent children from running away. e task force, which includes former foster kids, foster parents, social workers, a police o cer and county child welfare o cials, must submit reports to the legislature by October 2024. is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun. com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

Timmy and Andrew Potter, 15, were killed in separate incidents with similar details — both were struck by cars late at night after running away from di erent centers, two years apart.