15 yr old runaway

[Guest]

Hi, I have custody of 15 yr old gson, mom passed away, dad left state. He doesnt want to stay with us ,we in a different school district. He wants to be emancipated when he turns 16 in Nov. He is staying with friends, wont come home, can I force him to come home?

[ccsmod0]

Hi there,
Thank you for writing to us here at National Runaway Safeline (NRS). 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 your grandson has left home and you are wondering if you have the right to get him to return home. We want you to know that we are not legal experts but to our knowledge if you are his legal guardian then you have the right to report him not being home to the police. Leaving home without parental consent (running away) is not a crime, so the police will not arrest him. Running away is not a crime it is a status offence (something that only a minor can get in trouble for: truancy, buying cigarettes, etc.) this means that if they have any interaction with the police they will simply return him home.
We hope that this information was helpful to you. If you have any follow-up questions refer to other bulletins about this matter.
Best wishes,
NRS