We know that sometimes you might not want to go back home because it feels safer being away. It is really important that you feel safe where you live. If it doesn’t feel safe for you to go back home, we want to help you talk about why it doesn’t feel safe and help you find somewhere that does.
We know that you may not have spoken about what makes you feel unsafe at home before. We also know that it can be tough to explain why it doesn’t feel safe. We won’t rush you or judge you for what you tell us, and we will give you time to talk things through with us in confidence
If you are under 18 we can help you to talk to a social worker or a police officer about why it isn’t safe for you at home. We know it may feel scary or upsetting to talk about why you don’t feel safe at home to a social worker or police officer, so we can help you speak to them through a Three Way Call. That way we can be on the call with you and can help you to explain to them what is going on at home that makes you feel it’s not safe to go back.
Social services have a duty of care to you and are responsible for making sure that you have somewhere safe to live, so they will talk you through the next steps for finding you a safe home and will not force you to go back to somewhere that isn’t safe.
If you are over 18 and it doesn’t feel safe to go home, we can help you talk through your options and your rights and put you in touch with other organisations that might be able to help you to find housing or apply for benefits. What we can’t do is organise accommodation for you or give you the money to pay for it. If something that has happened at home or something that you’re worried might happen if you go back home is against the law, we can help you to speak to the police about this. We won’t force you to speak to them, but you can talk this through with us, and if you decide that you’d like to, we can help you to talk to the police through a Three Way Call.
The Runaway Helpline can only provide services to children and young people within the United Kingdom, and information and advice on this site relates to the UK only.
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