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When I started planning to run away, I planned to end up in a good group/permanent home with a new loving family. But can this actually happen? Do shelter actually get this involved in trying to ensure your safety, or do they just kick you out without helping after a while?
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Hello,
Thanks for reaching out to us for help and support. You brought up some great questions, and it was smart for you to contact us first before deciding to run away. We aren't legal experts however we can answer your questions generally. Minors (youth under 1
are typically placed into group homes or foster care when their own parents or legal guardians lose custody, or if they are incarcerated or pass away and the youth has no other family to live with. Child Protective Services has a goal of keeping families together. If a youth is reported to the police as a runaway, law enforcement response would typically to return that youth to the home, not to place them into a group home. Runaways cannot typically choose to go to a group home because they want a new family. You may be placed into group home or placement if your legal guardian were to be found guilty and charged with a criminal offense for child abuse or neglect. If you are being abused, you always have the option of reporting this to CPS. Runaway shelters are a little different than group homes or permanent placement. They do try to ensure that a youth is safe and provide services, however many have time limits on your stay, or may be required to notify your legal guardian that you are there. All of this would really depend on what is going on in your situation. If you would like help planning, or if you need to talk, you can call us any time 24/7 and we can discuss your situation in greater detail. We can help talk through your options, find any resources that may be able to help, and help you make a plan to deal with your situation and stay safe. We are looking forward to hearing from you soon, and wish you the best of luck.
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Thanks for the response! As I mentioned in the post, I'm afraid to get CPS involved because it's only emotional abuse. In the past, when my school called CPS on my parents, they talked to my parents when I wasn't home. The didn't even talk to me about how I felt. I ended up getting screamed at when I got home. This happened about 3 times. I felt that CPS was useless because they never helped. That's why I thought a shelter would help more. Also, when you say if my parents call the police I have to be returned home, what if I'm still in danger? Do they have to regardless or do I still get a choice? (I'm 15 by the way)Comment
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That’s a difficult situation and we’re sorry to hear that you feel CPS wasn’t of assistance in your situation. Like we mentioned before, we aren’t legal experts here, but as long as your parents are your legal guardians, they do have the legal right to contact the police and potentially bring you back home if you were to leave. If you feel that you are in danger, you can always reach out directly to the police. If you do not want to contact CPS and/or the police at this time, you could reach out to Child Help for further guidance on going about leaving your unsafe situation. They can be reached at (800) 422-4453 or if you want information without talking to someone, their website, childhelp.org, can also be very helpful. Also, if you’re open to it, we do have a 24/7 hotline where we might be able to further assist you with resources for your particular situation. We hope that this helps and that your situation gets better soon. Thanks again so much for reaching out and best of luck!
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