The three-day fact finding trip will take place from March 20 to 22 and is part of the charity’s Safe and Sound campaign to set up a nationwide network of shelters offering temporary accommodation to runaway children in the UK.
According to a Children’s Society press statement, the Early Day Motion (EDM) in support of The Children’s Society campaign that has been tabled by Mr Burstow, MP for Sutton and Cheam, was signed by a record 340 MPs.
Mr Burstow will travel to the US with the newly appointed policy advisor to The Children’s Society, Martin Houghton-Brown, as well as Carl Hillier, a former young runaway.
The three will meet together with Curtis Porter of the U.S. Federal Government’s Family and Youth Services Bureau, as well as members of Congress. They will also attend a reception hosted by the U.S. National Runaways Switchboard.Carl will hear the experiences of U.S. runaways firsthand when he meets with them at one of the night shelters in Chicago, as well as gain a greater impression of how the child runaway services in the U.S. compare with those offered in the UK.
One of the main aims of the Children’s Society Safe and Sound campaign is to convince the Government to establish a network of refuges to support the 100,000 children aged under 16 who run away or who are forced to leave home every year.
Tim Linehan, The Children's Society's assistant director for campaigns says: "Our Safe and Sound campaign has succeeded in gaining the support of the public and many politicians who are shocked that 100,000 children run away from home in Britain. Now we need to see how a network of safe emergency accommodation can work in practice.
“We believe our visit to the USA will provide us with valuable learning that can help protect young runaways in Britain."
Mr Burstow will follow up the visit with a report on the findings of his trip to parliamentarians before a second reading in May of a 10 minute Rule Bill tabled by Labour MP Helen Southworth entitled The Protection of Runaway and Missing Children.
The Bill is pressing for a national coordination of responses to children who go missing from home.
“This trip will provide an opportunity to see first hand how services and support are provided in the US for runaway children,” said Mr Burstow. “I hope that what we learn will help to influence the debate and policy here in the UK."
