For many adolescents, running away from home has been a response to poverty or to an unhealthy family or work situation, as well as an expression of independence, often marking the passage into adulthood. A runaway adolescent may come into contact with any of six social networks which serve runaway youth. The activities of the police-legal, mental health, and social welfare networks are based on the faulty assumption that all runaway children are psychopathological or delinquent. In contrast, self-help youth advocacy and helping peer-adult networks represent either formal efforts by groups or individuals who refuse to attach labels to young people, preferring to assist runaway youths who request help. The no-network category covers the experience of those youths who leave home and manage independently without any network interaction. 'Country Roads' -- the first rural project funded under the Federal Government's Youth Act, which decriminalized running away from home by children, is closely allied to the helping peer-adult network and operates in central Vermont. The project has created a network of supportive, helping families who provide shelter, food, and general support to runaway teenagers for as long as 3 months. Training and guidance is given to the helping families and peer counseling to the runaway youths. While the primary aim of the project is to have children return home, when that is not possible new alternatives are developed. The helping families provide a new community resource in rural areas where local provincialism, limited resources and geographical distances often inhibit the delivery of needed services. An overview of the runaway youth issue from the historical perspective, a review of relevant literature, footnotes, and references are included.