help me please

[Needhelpnow]

I need help disappearing . I am 16 years old but I turn 17 next month . I have been running away from home my whole life . my life consists of all types of abuse from emotional to sexual to physical . CPS has gotten involved many times . I get taken away sometimes but I always end up right back . They just Dont seem to care or understand . if one parent abuses me , I go to the next . and when they mess up I go right back to the other parent who claims to have changed . Its a never ending cycle . I go to court Alot because they claim Im the problem and that I run away because I am ungovernable even though there are evidence of abuse . I have even been aressted and charaged with ungovernable because my mom said i refused to wash dishes . I was only 13 or 14 at that time . I have run away before and been gone for months at a time . I am never caught . I only end up back home when I go to court and they make me go back home or if I am ratted out by someone . I live in Louisiana but I go state to state when I run away . I recently went to court and they threaten to lock me up until Im 18 if I leave again . but I can't do another year . my dad almost killed me last time I was in his custody and I was removed by CPS and placed with my drug addicted mom again . I only like 1 year until Im 18 but I can't do a year here . please help me . I just need to get someplace away from here where I can lay low and live my life for a year until I am 18 years old . please help me .

[ccsmod14]

Re: help me please

Hi there,

Thank you so much for reaching out to us here at the National Runaway Safeline. It sounds like you have been through so much at home and we are really sorry to hear about all of this. You do not deserve to be abused or almost killed by anybody. You deserve to feel safe in your own home. We’re sorry to hear about this trouble/lack of response that you have had from Child Protective Services over time. It is always your right to make an abuse report, which it sounds like you have done in the past and have not seen the results you want. There is a resource we’d like to provide to you regarding the frustrations you have had with CPS and you can explore that here: http://justiceforchildren.org/. You shared that your mother is addicted to drugs. It is difficult to live with someone who is active in addiction, and we’d like to pass along some resources that may be helpful: Families Anonymous at (800) 736 9805 and http://www.al-anon.alateen.org/for-alateen.

It sounds like you have had to go to court due to conflict at home with mom which has been frustrating for you, especially if it’s been over things that you do not feel are serious concerns for her to have. You shared that you have run away to different states before and stayed away for long periods of time, but if you do this again you may face jail time. It’s understandable why this would be a difficult situation to try to navigate. We’re not here to tell you what you should or should not do, we’re just here to help keep you safe in what you decide. If you are in need of a place to stay, we can try to find shelters local to you. Unfortunately, shelters run the same risk of getting into legal trouble for harboring a runaway over 24 to 72 hours without receiving parental consent or notifying CPS. We are here 24/7 and provide conference calling for youth, so if you decide you’d like to explore any possible resources further, you can call us here at (800) RUNAWAY first and we can call out to any shelters or agencies that you’d like to find out more information about.

Please, do not hesitate to call or chat to talk further. We’re here to help you 24/7.

Best,
NRS