CYF says the spike is unusual, reflecting the challenging behaviour of the teenagers staying in the homes at the time.
Information received under the Official Information Act showed police received 38 missing persons reports from two CYF family homes in Dunedin between May 1 and August 10.
Dunedin-Clutha police area commander Inspector Dave Campbell said while not every report required a search-party response, all required a good deal of paperwork and follow-up work, which made the whole process "highly time-consuming".
It was not uncommon to have one person generating multiple missing persons reports.
Nine of the 29 reports during the period from the Middleton Rd family home were for the same person, and five were for the same group of three children.
The family homes - a care and protection home at Middleton Rd and a youth justice home in Will St - are each run by two approved caregivers who at any one time can be looking after up to eight teenage residents who are in the custody of CYF.
Insp Campbell said the homes were run like family homes, not prisons.
"There are some issues about whether you can just lock people up."
The children staying at the homes were there because they had particular problems. "Unfortunately", there were always going to be runaways, but he was sure CYF was doing what it could.
CYF acting regional manager Judy Larking said the teenagers at these homes were some of the most challenging young people CYF dealt with not in secure facilities.
Many had endured difficult or unpleasant experiences and often had troubled family backgrounds and complex needs.
Being placed in a family home could be unsettling and some young people missed family and/or their friends.
Others disliked the "rules" or other residents in the home.
While any absconding was a concern, given the combination of factors it was inevitable some would try to run away, she said.
Absconding rates from both homes were unusually high in the period referred to, with the rate more than double the usual rate from the Middleton Rd home.
"This reflects the behaviour of the young people in the homes at that time, which was particularly challenging," Mrs Larking said.
If a young person was repeatedly absconding and that was creating unsafe situations for themselves or others, supervision would be increased or they would be placed in a secure residence.
Family home caregivers were given training to deal with the issues that came with young people in the homes, including absconding, she said.
"But they aren't prison guards. Our aim is, where possible, to create a `normal' home-like environment so they can experience a `normal' teenage life. Simply locking them up in a residence at the first hint of trouble won't help these young people achieve this."
Each situation was unique and CYF's response was tailored to the individual.
In several of these cases, a security guard was brought in at night.
A dedicated resource worker was also brought in to supervise the teenagers and work with them on specific activities during the day, which helped resolve the problems, she said.
In one case, a youth was moved to a secure care and protection residence.
