my dad told me to get out

[Unregistered]

my dad told me to get out of the house and dont come back so i found a place to stay for a while and i like it better than my old house i dont have to deal with all of the drugs the yelling and the stress. and now my dad is saying that if i dont go home i am going to jail what do i do

[ccsmod8]

RE: my dad told me to get out

Hello,

Thank you for writing into the National Runaway Safeline bulletin board. After reading about your situation it sounds like living at home with your father is pretty difficult for you. With all the yelling and the drugs, it doesn’t seem like you feel safe living there with your father anymore. You certainly don’t have to be treated that way and if it is something very serious you always have the right to report any abuse to your local police department or child protective service in your state. Have you ever considered going down this path before? Have you talked to anyone else about this situation?

Now depending on your age, if you are still under the age of majority and considered a minor in your state then your father does have the right as you legal guardian to file a runaway report for you. If a report is made, it can also affect the person that you are currently staying with, as he and/or she can be charged with harboring a runaway. With that said, running away from home isn’t something that is punishable by jail time. It is only a status offense. The only thing that will happen is that if you’re picked up by the police and they bring up your file, then they will just take you home back to your father.

So since there is so much going on right now with you at home and your situation doesn’t sound particularly safe, we suggest that you give us a call on our 24hour hotline (1.800.RUNAWAY) for a more immediate response, as well as connect to some resources that we might have on hand to help perhaps ease the situation your currently in. Another service that we offer here at the NRS is our chat room which is offered from 4:30pm to 11:30pm/CST (www.1800RUNAWAY.org).

Look forward to talking with you and best of luck.