App designed by and for runaway youth reducing missing person reports in Saskatoon

Promise Gordon likes having a plan.

It helped her break a cycle of running away from home.

Gordon, 19, joined Operation Runaway a few years ago. The program is run by Egadz, a youth centre in downtown Saskatoon, and connects chronic runaways with community supports and professionals. Participants talk about the good and bad of the past week, set goals and develop life plans.

"They hold you accountable if you, if you need to be held accountable," Gordon said. "So that's one of the main reasons why I like being with them. They just tell you straight up how it is."

Youth accounted for 3,351 — or 78.5 per cent — of the 4,270 missing person reports filed in Saskatoon in 2023, according to a Board of Police Commissioners report released last year.

The latest addition to Operation Runaway's toolbox is the Missing Youth Saskatchewan app, a project led by Egadz youth, that was launched two years ago.

The app has cut down on pointless missing person reports, said Don Meikle, executive director at Egadz. He said a lot of kids — especially the chronic runaways — are simply breaking curfew or didn't check in on schedule, but are not in actual danger.

"Kids would tell us that they were at their friend's a block away and we had to call them into the police if they weren't back by a certain curfew," Meikle said.

"They'd be visiting their friends, watching a show, then [there's] knocking at the door. It was the city police there to pick them up and take them home. And they weren't drinking. They were sober. They weren't at any risk and it got really embarrassing and really tiresome for them."

In 2023, habitual youth runaways accounted for 2,944 — or 88 per cent — of all missing youth reports and 69 per cent of all missing person reports. Habitual runaways are defined as people who are reported missing more than once in a year.

Many of the habitual runaways live in group homes under government care. Just 10 addresses in Saskatoon were responsible for filing 46 per cent of missing person reports in 2023.

Youth workers use the risk assessment tool and app to evaluate if a missing youth is actually running away and at risk or maybe just hanging out with a friend. Workers can access personal history of youth in care and any information kids provide about themselves, such as where they're likely hanging out past curfew.

That information helps the worker decide whether to file a missing person report with police.

Last year, reports involving habitual youth runaways dropped by 700 from the year before, according to Saskatoon police.

"There's no question that we've seen a drastic decrease in missing person reports in those homes that are using the app," said Saskatoon police Sgt. Aaron Moser, who leads the missing person unit.

Moser said there are fewer reports because the tools improve communication between agencies, community groups and police. Fewer reports mean fewer encounters with police.

"It's very rare for a missing person investigation to be criminal in nature," Moser said.

"So for a young person to be in a situation where they're taken unnecessarily into police custody, that's something we want to try to avoid. In addition to that, there's all this strain that is put on our investigative apparatuses and our operations."

Meikle beams with pride when he talks about how youth in Egadz programs helped design the app.

"I wish somebody would have paid these kids $1 million because they created a program, they've created an app, that is so darn brilliant," Meikle said. "They don't have master's degrees. A lot of them don't even have high school [diplomas], but they built a program that they believe in."

Gordon thinks Operation Runaway works in part because her meetings are with the same support workers every week. It helps build trust and keeps her on track, she said.

"They helped out a lot, made me want to reach out more," Gordon said. "[I'm] more consistent with myself and other people, just being more out there and talkative instead of just trying to be in a box all the time."