Hey there,
Thanks so much for reaching out and sharing a little bit about what’s been going on, we know that it takes a lot of courage. We aren’t legal experts here at NRS, but generally speaking, if you do opt to leave your home your legal guardian (in this case 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 a runaway report is filed and you are located by the authorities you will most likely be returned home, even if you are with another family member, like your mom.
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.
Stay safe,
NRS
We'd love to hear from you about your experience using our crisis forum. Your feedback plays an important role in helping us improve our services to support youth and families. Please click the link below to fill out our survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/we_care_what_you_think
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if i runaway can my mom call the cops?
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Guest repliedSo can i just go to my moms even when my grandparents have custody of me
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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. You don't deserve to be abused. It's not your fault that this is happening.
While we are not experts on the law, 18 is generally the age that an individual may leave home without parent/guardian permission. If you are under 18 and leave home, they may file you as a runaway and if picked up by the police you may be returned home. Also, those you stay with may run the risk of being charged with harboring a runaway. However if you are at risk of abuse at home you could make the police aware of it. You also have the right to file an abuse report with child protective services by contacting Child Help 1-800-422-4453 www.childhelp.org by filing a report an investigation will take place to access the level of risk. It may also be a good place to explore options for staying with another family member or maybe someone you trust as far as transferring custody.
We are here as support to help through this challenging time. We can best help by phone or chat as NRS is unable to respond more than twice by email to assist you. If you would like to talk more in detail please call or chat soon.
Our contact information is 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929); www.1800runaway.org (click on the chat button).
If you are at risk of any danger or feeling unsafe, we encourage you to reach out to 911 or seek emergency assistance immediately.
Be safe,
NRS
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Guest repliedSo i wanna go to my moms house and kive with her buh my grandparents have custody of me so if i just go and stay with my mom will i be forced to go back to my house even if my grandparents hit me and stuff
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Hello There,
Thank you for reaching out to The National Runaway Safeline, we are here to help and here to listen. We are not legal experts but we do have some information on what could happen. Because you are a minor if you were to leave without permission your legal guardian could file a runaway report. If the police were to find you they most likely would bring you back home.
If there is abuse going on at home you do have the right to report. There are a few ways to go about making a report. One option would be to call Child Help at: 1800-422-4453. You can also call us and we would be able to help you make a report.
We hope that this information will be helpful to you in your situation. If you have any other questions or would like to explore more options please give us a call. We are here 24/7 to listen and provide support to you. Best of luck!
NRS
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Guest repliedI'm 15 and I live in South Carolina What should I do if my mom kicks me out of the house?
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Hello,
Thanks so much for reaching out to us at the National Runaway Safeline. We’re so sorry that things have been so difficult between you and your family at home. It sounds like everything that’s been going on with your siblings and your parents has been pretty overwhelming and it’s been hard to find peace at home. It was brave of you to reach out for help, and we’ll do our best to share resources that might be helpful for you as you decide what to do. Leaving home is a big decision, and if this is something you’re thinking of doing, we would encourage you to consider factors like where you might go, how long you’d be gone, and how you would keep yourself safe while you’re away. Whatever you decide, know that we are here for you.
It sounds like there’s been a lot of verbal and physical altercations at home between you and your parents. It’s not ok for anyone to be aggressive with you, and if you are feeling unsafe at home, organizations like Child Help can help you identify the nearest child protective services agency to you. You can reach them at 1.800.442.4453 and www.childhelp.org if you want to file an abuse report. In your message, you mention texting with your friend about wanting to hurt yourself. We want you to know that there are organizations like the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline that are there to listen and support you. You can reach them at 1.800.273.8255 and www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org . You’re not alone, and organizations like us at the National Runaway Safeline, Child Help and The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, are all here to support you and help you stay safe.
If you have questions, or you need to talk about your options, we hope you will reach out to us by phone or chat. You can reach us 24/7 by phone at 1.800.786.2929, or via chat by visiting www.1800runaway.org . We’ll do our best to help you explore your options and try our best to share options that will help you stay safe regardless of what you decide to do. We’re here to listen, here to help. Stay safe!
-NRS
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Guest repliedHi, I’m 12 and I was wondering is it possible to run away not that it matters but I come into a Hispanic household and Christianity not a lot of problem came a long until probably a year ago my mom started to compare me with my older cousin saying “look at your older cousin she knows how to cook every time I go to her house she all dressed up she cleans the house and you’re always upstairs doing nothing but just with your phone.” Which hurts because I feel like she adores her more uhm I do have two older siblings but my sister is the oldest out of my brother she’s 25 now and he’s 19 and I’m the youngest. We were never spoiled we never took advantage out of anyone or money when we were young my sister did take care of my brother and me when we were young basically my parents love her more because she was successfully and her life was organized my brother he did a lot of dumb stuff he crashed two cars one was my mom truck and the other one was his car and he would of sneaked out a lot and he still does but not often anymore.My parents don’t let me out of the house I’m always inside my dad got after me because I went to my backyard Last year I did went out to go to the park which is like 6 minutes away just for an hour my mom caught me and when I was in her truck she did pull my ear and whenever we got back home she did made me kneel down on my knees and hit me with the belt I just stayed there for about 30-40 minutes on my knees not to mention my grandma lives with us too she can’t walk on her right leg and she can’t move her left arm either so my mom keeps telling her basically yelling to practice moving her arm and try to walk but she does go to the restroom and just sits there for almost 8-9 hours but only stands up to go to the restroom and when she comes back she does leave the doors open and that makes my mom mad but just to keep it kinda short she’s just tired of her but she does yell everyday at her and me she did told me about she won’t make the same mistake as she did to my brother she wanted to put him into those houses but kinda like jail? So they can teach there child a lesson or something but she didn’t and she did say if you do the same thing as your brother I’m going to put you there which is just like what but okay. This year in quarantine she hasn’t changed for a bit she always will keep yelling she doesn’t like me to wear comfortable clothes such as hoodies,sweatpants,baggy clothes that are suppose to be for boys she wants me to wear dresses fancy stuff all that which I do but I just wear them for parties. I don’t wanna day one time but it usually happens but she was screaming my name to go downstairs but I kept telling I will give me a few minutes because I was trying to stop my crying and tried to cover the parts that were red with concealer so I eventually went downstairs and she wanted me to prepare food for my dad but when my dad came home she told me she don’t like me for wearing hoodies a lot and she tried to take it off which I didn’t let because I wasn’t wearing a shirt under and again I was wearing a hoodie and everyone was there my brother my dad my grandma and her she told me to make coffee for my dad and my grandma so I did and she got after for wearing a hoodie she did grab my hoodie from the back but I put it back on she slapped her hand on my head two time just because I didn’t want to take off my hoodie I can’t talk English to her or she’ll get mad and keeps telling speak Spanish and I do understand Spanish I just don’t know how to tell someone my feelings because I’ll feel guilty and I’m not comfortable of telling them I did try to tell them what’s been happening to me and you know about them too but my dad thought it was because someone was telling me stuff about me through text he grabbed my phone and checked every text message and I had to translate it which I have texted my girl best friend taht I wanted to kill myself and run away I’m so thankful that I was able to begged him to stop reading cause I’m not comfortable looking through my messages even though I have like 4 friends that I text my feelings to and what’s been happening my dad whenever I’m not responding or to make him coffee he’ll knock on my door hard to see what I’m doing in there which half the time is watching anime or just straight up sleeping he will grab the door knob and shake it and it did got worse because every time I hear him going upstairs I would put a chair or something heavy in front of it he did take off my door knob one time for like an hour or two he did the same with my brother but he bought one because he bought it and has money he switched my door knob that didn’t have a lock so I always put something heavy in front of it I convinced him too put my other door knob back he did and you know it got loose for shaking it to hard he fixed it but whenever I get him mad for a little thing he would lock my door so I would be downstairs I remember this one time he got mad at me for not washing the dishes and grabbed the belt and hit me on my leg but I think the point thing on the belt made a mark and it turned purple it didn’t hurt but it looked super bad and he kept apologizing which I stayed quiet about it I did told my brother what I wanted to mill myself and run away but when he told my parents because some words I can’t say or how to say then my mom said she’s always upstairs she doesn’t do nothing and stuff like that which I do help her with something everyday and then she started to cry and said she was a bad mom but she did became a lil nice for about 1-2 weeks and it got back too telling every single thing I do and whenever she says something that’s wrong I would correct her and I was being honest to her which I think she didn’t like it and she’ll tell me why would you stay up all night and I’ll tell her the reason why I stay up at night is because no one bothers me is all quiet and screaming or loud music I been thinking of running away for about two months now but I don’t know how to begin I just want to be alone in my quiet room with no yelling idk if I need help I just want someone to help me out that’s all.
I’m so sorry if this is long I really do
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Hey there,
Thanks for reaching out to NRS, it seems like you are going through a lot at home right now and are looking for options to stay safe if you decide to leave home. You deserve a safe place to call home, instead of somewhere you feel trapped in and want to escape from.
Generally shelters may be able to accept you and provide a safe place for you to stay with a roof over your head. There are also longer-term places called Transitional Living Places that are designed more to get you on your feet and have case managers to help you still go to school or get a job. If you want help finding a shelter you can go to https://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/ or chat/call us and we can see what options there are in your area.
If you have more questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to our hotline at 1-800-RUNAWAY or chat using our online chat function at 1800runaway.org.
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Guest repliedI am going to runaway but have no where to go I am 16 and can’t stay at home anymore and have no one to take me in if I leave
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Hi,
Thank you for reaching out to us; we are glad that you did. It sounds like things at your house are difficult and stressful for you. It isn’t fair to feel unsafe in your home, and we are sorry that you are going through this.
Your message is very short, and we hope you will reach out again by phone or chat so that we can hear more about your situation. The plain answer to your question is that the police would probably bring you home, unless you refused and said that you are not safe there. They would then probably call social services for emergency shelter. That is one scenario of what could happen.
The best way for us to help you is by listening to you and helping you to figure some options to help in your situation. We are here for you or the youth 24/7 either by calling 1-800-786-2929 or via live chat through www.1800runaway.org
We are confidential and are here 24/7 to listen and help.
Sincerely,
NRS
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Guest repliedif I run away and stay at my friend's house and it's safer than my house will the police still take me home or will they take me somewhere else?
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Hello there,
Thank you for reaching out on our forum. It sounds like you’ve already run away from home and are wondering if the police can make you go back. We are not legal experts here; however, our general understanding is that if/when police come across a runaway/missing juvenile, they will try to reunite them with their parent/guardian/family. We’d be happy to talk to you more about this and invite you to our Live Chat so we can have a one-on-one conversation. To get started with Live Chat, please go to https://na0messaging.icarol.com/Cons...d=254&cc=en-US. We hope you’re safe and wish you the best of luck!
-NRS
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Guest repliedI run away from home can the police make me come back
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Hi,
Thanks for reaching out to the National Runaway Safeline.
It sounds like you are in a tough situation at home with your mom.
Sometimes things become so frustrating it’s hard to figure out what steps to take to make change. On one hand it seems that you have a friend who says you can come stay with them but on the other hand your mom probably would not agree to let you go.
Your friend sounds very supportive of your situation.
Having a space to vent and explore options may often bring out a solution previously not thought of. NRS is here to listen and here to help.
We understand how difficult it must have been to speak about what has been going on and how it makes you feel.
You are very brave for doing so.
NRS would like you to know we are here to support you at this difficult time.
We can best help by phone or chat. If you would like to talk more in detail please call or chat soon.
Let us know how we might help, please contact us at 1-800-Runaway (786-2929) orwww.1800Runaway.org (live chat).
Take care,
NRS
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