Leaving Home at 17

[Guest]

I'm 17 and am 7 months away from being 18. I graduated early and am planning to go back to school soon to further my education. With my parents consent, I moved out to be with roommates, and I'm paying my own half of the rent. Can my parents force me to come home if I'm not doing anything that'll harm me or others? Can they report me and the people I'm staying with if I refuse to come home?

[ccsmod4]

Reply: I'm 17 and am 7 months away from being 18.

Hello,
Thank you for writing to us here at the National Runaway Safeline.

We understand it takes great courage to reach out, and we appreciate you sharing a little bit about what’s going on. It sounds like you have concerns about your parent’s taking back their permission for you to live outside the home. We are not legal experts so you might consider contacting your local police department and asking if you would be considered a runaway and forced to return home if your parents tried to report you after giving their permission for you to leave (It might also help if you have something from them in writing giving their permission).

NRS is here to listen and here to help. We want you to know that we are here as support to help you through this challenging time. We can best help by phone or chat as NRS is unable to respond more than twice by email or bulletin for assistance. If you would like to talk more in detail and share more about how we can help specifically, please call or chat soon.

Our contact information is 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929); www.1800runaway.org (click on the chat button).

Take care,
NRS