Runaway success? Here's hoping

Young homeless people get no education at present, falling victim instead to drug abuse and crime. Ministers are intending to change that. Grace McCann finds out what measures they have in mind

Young people who run away from home are being targeted by the Government – to become students. Some runaways may be saved from homelessness, drug abuse and prison by a place in further education, according to the Social Exclusion Unit, part of the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott's remit.

The Unit's new report, Young Runaways, looks at what can be done about this hitherto neglected problem. For under-16s, schools can play a key part in reducing the number of times that young people run away, whereas for 16- to 17-year-olds, there are different issues and possible solutions, it says. For the older age group, running away "is the first step in the transition to independent living." Some of the young people concerned may have been forced out of home by parents or carers.

Improving their access to further education (alongside support with housing and money) will be crucial in helping runaways aged over 16, according to the Unit. That's where Connexions, the Government's new careers-advice service for 13- to 19-year-olds, comes in. The organisation has been set up in regions – one for each Learning and Skills Council area, and 46 out of 47 regions are up and running so far. The remaining one, Northumberland, will be launched in April.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Connexions service has put in place an arrangement whereby the police refer runaways to a Connexions personal adviser. That came about when a local policewoman was sufficiently worried about the runaways in her patch to team up with Connexions to see if learning opportunities could help them. "We work with the young person to explore the cause of the problem, which may be about family or relationships, or bullying," says Steve Stewart, the executive director of Coventry and Warwickshire's Connexions. "We work with them until they have stopped running away and are enjoying life and succeeding at school or further education college." The Social Exclusion Unit's report recommends that this scheme be rolled out across all Connexions services.

Of course, 16- and 17-year-olds aren't legally obliged to be in education, but Coventry and Warwickshire runaways have been engaged in a range of further-education courses. "It can anything from basic skills through to BTec courses," says Steve Stewart "We've also got runaways doing work-based learning programmes and modern apprenticeships."

One of his success stories is an able 16-year-old girl who started running away when her mother formed a new relationship with a man, and asked him to move in. The girl is now living independently in supported accommodation and taking a modern apprenticeship in business administration, and is even getting on well with her mother again.

The recent curriculum changes for 14- to 19-year-olds, which mean that pupils may spend up to two days a week on work placements or at FE colleges, are welcomed by Mr Stewart. "I went on an IT course the other day and quickly realised that it was too advanced for me. I was frustrated, humiliated and angry – it was several thousand pounds worth of disaffection-awareness training! I realised what it's like every day of the week for certain kids who struggle at school, and it's great that schools can now be more creative about learning needs."

Runaways need better life chances to succeed, and the relationship between learning and the best possible start in life is a case that has been made many times over, says Mr Stewart. "The more we learn, the more we earn, the greater chance we have of being employed, and the less chance we have of going to prison," he adds. "It didn't work for Jeffrey Archer, but it does for most of the population."