Written with the help of AI from the Oct. 28 City Commission meeting video.
When a Dayton teenager runs away, the call has always gone to police. Since early October, many of those calls go to Daybreak instead, a Dayton nonprofit that works with homeless and runaway youth. Its staff find out why the teen keeps leaving and try to fix it. Daybreak and the Dayton Police Department described the two-year pilot to the City Commission on Oct. 28.
How it works
The program, called RONI (runaway outreach notification intervention), is modeled on one in Denver. The regional dispatch center still takes every missing-child call. Critical cases still go straight to police: children 13 and younger, teens missing more than 21 days, and anyone with a medical need, a mental incapacity or suspicious circumstances. Detectives still review every case.
Daybreak takes the non-critical cases involving 14- to 17-year-olds. Its intake staff call the person who reported the teen missing, gather details such as where the teen tends to go, and confirm when the teen is safely home. Then an outreach specialist visits the home, or the group home, to work out why the teen keeps running and what would help. Daybreak has a therapist on the team, so a teen who needs counseling can start right away instead of joining a waiting list. Every case includes a human trafficking screening of both the teen and the caregiver.
Why Dayton
The state chose Dayton because of its high number of runaway calls. Police told commissioners they get about 2,000 missing-juvenile calls a year and spend roughly two hours on each, time officers could spend on crime. A police major who helped build Dayton’s mediation response unit called this the next step: moving calls that police aren’t the best fit for to people trained for them.
The pilot is paid for by the state through the Ohio Department of Public Safety and the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, with state anti-trafficking officials involved. Case Western Reserve University is evaluating it. Daybreak said Denver’s program has saved its police about 6,000 hours a year and cut runaway reports there from 1,174 in 2024 to 697 so far in 2026.
What commissioners asked
Several commissioners asked about group homes, which they said account for many repeat runaways, especially in northwest Dayton. Police Chief Eric Henderson said reports on repeat calls from group homes now go automatically to the Ohio Department of Children and Youth, and that a joint committee of the Ohio House and Senate is studying group homes. Commissioner Fairchild asked what tools exist when a home isn’t caring for children properly. Police said they would report back with numbers.
Daybreak said it staffs intake around the clock on weekdays and is training weekend staff, including teachers who worked with the program over the summer. Commissioners asked for yearly updates through the end of the grant.
Source: the Oct. 28 Dayton City Commission meeting video. More from that meeting: Dayton City Commission, Oct. 28.
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