My 12 year old friend ran away

[Guest]

My friend (we are both 12) they ran away from their emotionally and physically abusive home around 10 pm its winter she wont go home do to legal reasons she cant stay with me and she has no other family to go to what should I do to help them

[ccsmod15]

re: My 12 year old friend ran away

Hey there,

Thanks for reaching out to us here at the National Runaway Safeline (NRS). It sounds like your friend is in a really difficult situation. We are here to help in any way we can.
You said that your friend lives in an emotionally and physically abusive home. No child deserves to be abused. Childhelp is the National Child Abuse Hotline, and they can be a very helpful resource to anyone experiencing abuse. Their website is www.childhelp.org and their hotline number is 1-800-422-4453. Here at NRS, we understand that abuse can be very hard to talk about, so if your friend wants any help with filing an abuse report, she can call us at 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929). If your friend is ever in immediate danger, please tell her to call 911.

You said that your friend cannot stay with you and she ran away from home and does not have anywhere else to go. That must be very scary for her, and she is lucky to have a friend like you to help her in this time. We are a national helpline, so we have resources all across the country if your friend wants to call us here at 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929) or use our chat at 1800runaway.org. Then she can tell us where she is from so that we can help her try to find any nearby shelters. National Safe Place is another resource that helps youth find a safe place to stay. Their website is www.nationalsafeplace.org or you can text the word “safe” followed by your city/state/zip to the number 4HELP (44357).

If your friend wants to talk about these or any other options she might have, she is welcome to call into NRS at 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929) or chat with us at 1800runaway.org. We are a 24/7, completely confidential helpline. Here to listen, here to help.

Best of luck,
NRS