Moving Out in PA

[Guest]

15 PA running to friend's house

I am 15 and want to run away to a friend's house. I have done research to see if my friend's family can get in trouble for hosting me. Is it possible for me to claim emancipation while living with them? Parents will not admit to it, but I have reason to believe I have been emotionally abused. Can I get emancipation without parental consent (I know they won't tell the court I can live on my own) and stay with my friend and his family?

[ccsmod15]

Hi,
Thank you for reaching out to us with your questions. We are sorry to hear that you believe that you have been emotionally abused. You don’t deserve that and we can see that it’s understandable that you’d want to live with your friend’s family. The difficulty with emancipation is that you have to prove to a judge that you are capable of providing for all of your needs like your parents would. Food, housing, clothing, medical, so that may not be an option.
As far as your friend’s family getting in trouble, they could but it depends on if your parents want to press charges or take them to court. We would like to talk more with you about your situation so that we can help you identify what your options are.
We care about what you are going through and we are here for you to listen and to help. All of our services are confidential and you can reach out either through our telephone hotline at 1-800-786-2929 (1-800-RUNAWAY) or with live chat through 1800runaway.org We are here for you 24/7 to listen and help.
We hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
NRS

[Guest]

Im 13 years old and my parents lied to my docters about stuff i did and they put me in a phsycord (One step down from a mental hospital) after i got out they said they had to watch me anytime i am home and they lock me in my room most of the time with nothing. they took everything out of my room alls i have is a bed. and they are constently putting me down with the meanest stuff making me cry every day for the past month and i almost never cry. when i wake up in the mornings i cant wait for school because it is the only happy place i have left. i think i might have depression cause of them. i have a really good friend who has offered to help me out in case i do run away which i want to. what do i do?

[ccsmod7]

Hi there,

It looks like you might have contacted NRS today through another means (for example, live chat, email or bulletin) for the same issue. Thank you for contacting us. NRS understands it takes courage to reach out for help; therefore, we would like to minimize the need for you to repeat your situation and avoid offering you duplicate services. Please call or chat us again if your situation changes or if you have more questions or concerns, or if you need additional support. We are here for you: 1-800-RUNAWAY; www.1800runaway.org.

Best of luck,

NRS

[Guest]

hi , i’m 20 and my father has been shoving things down my throat such as forceful marriage , and things i simply do not want . i just wonder what would happen if i ran away and stayed with some friends. will the police run after me and such?

[ccsmod16]

Hi, thank you for reaching out to us; we are glad that you did. In Pennsylvania, the age of majority is 18, so you can leave your house and there is no legal power on earth that can force you back home. And no one can force you to get married. You have to give your full consent. You are a free human being and the law is on your side, so yes you can leave, stay with friends, work, anything you choose and the police won’t lift a finger to make you go back. In fact, if your father tries to force you home, the police will help you and get him away from you.

If you would like to talk this over with us, and we are here for you 24/7. The best way for us to help you is if we can talk together either by phone at 1-800-786-2929 (1-800-RUNAWAY) or via live chat through www.1800runaway.org We are here to listen and help, and we hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
NRS

[Guest]

Hi, so I had a few questions and I came across this website which seemed like a great place to ask them. So, I'm 17 and I live in Michigan. I know that in my state there is a "runaway law." which from all the research I've done on it is like when you turn 17 you can "runaway" or leave home and authorities cannot force you to return home unless you are found to be in an unsafe or dangerous environment. So like if I were to run away from home and go stay with my friend my mom couldn't make me come home if I was safe and had everything I needed. and when I was researching it I remember it said that this isn't something that all states have. and I don't know what states do and don't have this law and I have a friend who lives in Pennsylvania and he wants to leave because he has been abused his entire life but there was never enough of anything for CPS to do something about it. he just turned 16 two months ago. and I've been looking up stuff for like a week and I can't seem to find any info about it. but he would be leaving and crossing state lines to get here and we are trying to figure out the best way to go about that. So I was wondering if A.) you knew or could find out if that runaway law was active in the state of Pennsylvania. and B.) how would be the best way to go about this that doesn't involve emancipation?

[ccsmod5]

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out, we understand it can be difficult to take this step. We hope to help as best we can. We are not legal experts, but we can help you by providing some legal aid options. It is true that each state can vary in its laws regarding runaways, by contacting a legal aid you can talk to a expert in the laws of the state. Please reach out to us via chat or phone call so that we can help find those resources for you. In regards to leaving the home for your friend, aside from emancipation, some ways to leave home would include reporting to CPS again, having an alternative living arrangement agreed upon by their legal guardians, or choosing to run away from the home. If they feel unsafe and need to leave th home to regain their safety, we can provide some shelter if they need a place to stay. We hope this helps.

Stay strong,
NRS