17 year old runaway turning 18

[ccsmod1]

Hi there,

Thank you for contacting us at the National Runaway Safeline. We are here 24/7 to listen and to support.

We're sorry to hear about all that has been going on recently and can understand how it hard it must be and why you would want to start fresh. We are not legal experts, but there could potentially face charges if anything happened to you while you were still a minor and under their custody. To get answers about what it would look like to not be going to school or to ask legal questions about what that might mean, you can contact the National Center for Education Helpline at 1-800-308-2145. They would be able to give you more guidance of what that would look like going forward.

We are also here at 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929) if you need help finding shelters or other resources you might need if you get kicked out or you decide to leave your home. Let us know how we can best help.

NRS

I'm 17, and I turn 18 in 10 months. I've broke my parents trust so many times that they have gotten tired of it and might kick me out. I'm ready to leave to because I'm ready to start my own life. I want to runaway until I'm 18.. but school is the only problem, if I leave and don't attend school will my parents get in trouble for me not attending school?

[ccsmod5]

Thanks for reaching out. It sounds like your family is going through a lot and it must be stressful when your son runs away. Though we aren’t legal experts, there are some general options we can share. First, if you would prefer for your son to live elsewhere, you can give him permission to stay with a friend or another family member. Generally all that is required of you in this situation is that you make sure he is staying somewhere safe. Another option is possibly to pursue court intervention; many states use a diversionary system to help families where the youth continue to run away. This has a different name from state to state, but is generally called something like MINS (minor in need of supervision), CHINS (child in need of supervision), etc. For more information about this process you can reach out to a family lawyer, your local police, or your local juvenile court. If you need additional help finding these resources, please feel free to reach out to us at 1-800-786-2929. We hope this was helpful and we wish you the best of luck. We encourage you to give us your honest feedback of our forum services at the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/we_care_what_you_think

Hi my son is 17 years old and continues to runaway how many times must me and my wife go through this or what can be done to get some help for the police or the courts

[ccsmod11]

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. It sounds like you’re planning a vacation but are concerned you’ll be filed as a runaway if you leave before you turn 18. To our knowledge, if you ran away 24 hours before you turned 18, you would not face any sort of legal repercussions after you turned 18 (assuming 18 is the age of majority in your state). It seems unlikely that a police department would file a report if you turned 18 in 24 hours. Keep in mind we are not legal experts, and the information we give out doesn’t necessarily hold true everywhere in the U.S.

We hope this response was helpful! We’d love to hear from you about your experience using our crisis email/forum. Your feedback plays an important role in helping us improve our services to youth and families. Please click the link to fill out our survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/we_care_what_you_think

I want to runaway at 24hrs before I turn 18. My birthday is New Years and I want to runaway the 31st of December to another state as a vacation for about a week. Meaning I’ll be 18 the next day that I’m there. Can I get in trouble or anyone else with me?

[ccsmod6]

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out to National Runaway Safeline. We know it takes a lot to reach out about personal events.

Your question is a really good one. Unfortunately because we are not legal experts we can not say whether or not your chargers will be dropped if you run away until you are 18. Normally if a youth leaves home before the age of 18 and then turns 18 the charges are dropped, but because you are in state custody we are not totally sure if that would make things different. You may want to contact a case worker if you have one and ask them about it as they may have a more definite answer.

If you have anymore questions or just need to talk the National Runaway Safeline is here 24/7 to help and listen.

If I am 17 and in stat custody In Mississippi if I run till I'm 18 what will happen and will my charges get dismissed in youth court when I turn 18

[ccsmod16]

Hello, thanks for posting! It sounds like you are worried about an upcoming court date for your probation. That is understandable to be concerned about. We are not legal experts and do not know where you live, but we can speak in general. In most states, 18 is the legal age that you can move out of your parents’ home without permission. If you do leave, your parents can call the police and file a runaway report, meaning if the police find you, they will return you back home. It is not a crime to run away, it is a status offense like truancy. However, while being on probation, if the police find you, you would likely run into more trouble for being truant, any school you miss, and not coming to court dates or meetings with your probation officer.
Perhaps reaching out to your PO or parents about your anxiety regarding court may help. Even talking to some friends if any know what is going on may help some. We are also here 24/7 by phone (1-800-786-2929) and 4:30-11:30 pm Central Time by online chat if you want someone to talk to about these feelings and more options for your situation.
Best of luck with your court case! We are here 24/7 to listen and help!

I'm 16 about to turn 17, on probation and about to go back to court for something. They said they would send me to juvinille prison for a year. Im wondering if I run now untill im 18 or 19 then then the charges will be dropped and I won't have to go back to court. Someone please help.

[ccsmod6]

Hi,

Thanks for reaching out. That is a really good question. We are not legal experts, but as far as we know if you leave home before the age of 18, then turn 18 in a state where the age of majority is 18, you would not get into trouble for having run away before you were 18.

If you need any more help or have any more questions please feel free to reach out again. You can call us at 1-800-RUNAWAY, we are 24/7 so someone will always be here to answer and help in the best way we can.

hi if I have a runaway charge and I turn 18 will I have any consequences?

[ccsmod2]

Thank you for reaching out to us here at National Runaway Safeline. It sounds like you plan on running away. Having a plan about where you would go and how you would take care of yourself is important. If you decide to runaway, your guardian has the right to file a runaway report. With a runaway report, if the police find you they would return you home. Running away is not illegal but if you decide to stay with a friend, they could get in trouble for harboring a runaway. You mentioned that you are currently in truancy court for skipping school, we are not legal experts so we cannot say for sure whether what will happen. You could contact your local police through their non emergency number or we could help you find local legal aid. Please feel free to contact us directly via our 24 hour crisis hotline (1-800-786-2929), email, or live chat if you would like resources or just need to talk.

Hi, I tried posting but I don't know if my question was posted. I'm planning on running away, I'm 16 and I live in NJ. Currently I'm in truancy court for skipping school due to mental illness. I'm planning on running away soon. Will this affect my truancy court and charges, and will they press charges on my mother because of me running away while I have truancy?

[ccsmod16]

Hello, thanks for posting to our forum today! Sounds like you have some questions regarding truancy and being a runaway. We are here to help and provide resources!
We are not legal experts so we cannot say for sure what would happen in this situation. As far as we know, truancy is a status offense so a person cannot go to jail for it. However, if you have a probation officer or case manager for your charges, you may want to reach out to them and ask what could happen. You may also be able to reach out to someone at the school like a resource officer or social worker. Another option is to reach out to a legal aid resource in your area. We can look those up for you if you would like to call (open 24/7, 1-800-786-2929) or live chat us (open 4:30-11:30pm central time).
Best of luck with this tricky situation and please do reach out if we can help any further!