Chief Reporter
The NSPCC is calling for urgent action to further protect children in Devon and Cornwall as new figures reveal that 328 children repeatedly went missing from care last year.
Devon and Cornwall Police recorded 990 cases in 2012. Nationally, more than 28,000 incidents were documented by police with some children running away dozens of times.
The children's charity said repeated runaways were at increase risk of harm, particularly from grooming gangs, who specifically target vulnerable youngsters for sexual abuse.
It wants a more focused effort to establish why individual young people go missing and improve ways of preventing it happening.
Sharon Copsey, the NSPCC's regional head of service for the South West, said: "The state needs to be a parent for these children.
"If any other child went missing their parents would move heaven and earth to find them and to understand why they did it. It should be no different for young people in care."
A Freedom of Information Act request from the NSPCC showed police forces received, on average, more than 75 reports a day involving nearly 7,900 youngsters, many of who were aged 13-17.
At least 2,959 of the children went missing more than once with some absconding on 35 occasions.
Some were not seen for more than a week and one force reported that six had still not been found.
The true numbers are expected to be far higher with less than half of all cases thought to be reported to police while only 29 out of 43 forces responded in full.
Ms Copsey said: "Repeatedly going missing should be a big warning sign as this kind of behaviour can put them at serious risk of harm such as grooming or sexual exploitation. But we have to understand why they are doing it.
"Children go missing for many reasons – they're being bullied, they've been put in a home miles from their family and they miss them and their friends, or they just don't trust staff enough to tell them where they are.
"Many will have been abused before being placed in care and they need a lot of attention and protection. Going missing for just an hour or two can be long enough for them to come to harm.
"Of course, care staff have a difficult job and many local authorities are working hard to deal with this problem, but children tell us they are looking for someone to understand why they go missing and to help set boundaries for them.
"Children want a little love and to be able to speak to someone who understands the difficulties they face. Otherwise, in the words of one young boy in care, they are 'dead to the world'."
