Family Issues

[Guest]

I’m sixteen years old with a dilemma. I live with my grandparents who aren’t in a good mental state. They’re in denial, but it’s true. My grandmother is not mentally stable. It’s from years back when my parents died. (not a sob story, just an explanation.) The house is so disgusting that i can’t even keep clean it.
They let their pets urinate everywhere. I’ve tried but they won’t even keep up after themselves and i can’t take it anymore. It’s taken a toll on me. They’re trying, I know that, but I just can’t stay there. I don’t want to be put in foster care. I can very well take care of myself. I’m confident in that. I’ve been staying with my sister’s house with her husband ( the house is under my grandparents, it’s just down the road from theirs) and that’s the only place they’ve let me stay. My sister and her husband is very toxic, however. But the place is clean and there’s food on the table. I want to move out with my boyfriend’s mother. (sounds irresponsible, but she’s like a mother to me, and i want to be in a nice home again.) Can I? Or will i be arrested?

[ccsmod1]

Hey there,

Thanks so much for contacting us, it takes a lot of courage to reach out and share your story. It must be really hard to live in a home where the people who are supposed to be taking care of you are unable to care for themselves. If you feel that you are being neglected, you have the right to report it. If you feel like this is an option you want to explore, you may find this website helpful: https://www.childhelp.org/child-abuse/. We can also help you to file a report if that’s the route you are considering. It may also be a good idea to explore options for staying with another family member or someone you trust as far as transferring custody.

It’s great to hear that your boyfriend’s mother supports you. If you do opt to leave, your home your grandparents can file a runaway report, which is essentially a missing person report. Running away is a status offense; this means that it isn’t illegal, but it’s something you can’t do while still a minor. If you go to stay at your boyfriend’s house without prior permission from your grandparents, his mom could be charged with harboring a runaway, which is a misdemeanor. Penalties for harboring a runaway vary from state to state, police officer to officer, and how your grandparents view the situation.

If you’d like to go over what’s going on in depth, or if you’d like to explore other options that you may have available to you, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-RUNAWAY. You can also chat us by clicking on the “CHAT” button on top of our homepage. We’re open 24/7 and here to listen and support you in any way we can.

All the best,
NRS