mo 17. if i move out now am i considered a runaway

[Unregistered]

state of MO.if i move out with parental consent at the age of 17 can i be considered a runaway?

[ccsmod2]

Thank you for contacting the National Runaway Switchboard; we are a crisis line for youth and their families that are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We can help provide you with resources that may be able to provide you with further assistance.

We aren’t legally trained here so we can’t give you a specific answer to your question. Generally, your parents are responsible for your well being and safety until you turn 18 years old. That means that they are the only ones who can list you as a runaway so if they gave you permission to move out, they shouldn’t be able to file you as one. Did they give you verbal consent or is it in writing?

You mentioned that you are in MO so we have provided you with some legal resources in the state. They should be able to provide you with a definite answer to your questions. They are all through youth services but scattered throughout the state.

Lawson Phone number: 816-296-3571
Poplar Bluff Phone number: 573-840-9540
Springfield Phone number: 417-895-6485
St. Louis Phone number: 314-340-6904

If you would like additional resources or just to talk more about what is going on, you can call us here; our number is 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929) and we are available 24 hours a day. We are also available via chat 7 days a week from 4:30 PM-10:00 PM. We wish you the best of luck and look forward to hearing from you.

~NRS

[Unregistered]

17 yr old daughter playin hooky from school and life with non-custodial parent.

In GA, I've Custody of 17 yr old daughter since 14months old. Non-Custodial mom has been in and out of her life, mostly out. Non-cust mom rarely spent time with her and paid support for our or my other 2 children, that also had custody of, convicted of abandonment and but in jail twice for contempt of support order. The arrearage is avoer $70k, and always finds away to slip out of paying. Her step-mom and I divorced 2 yrs ago and her other siblings have on their own within the last year. I drive a truck locally and get to come home almost everyday, mostly working at night. 17yr felt lonley and has been struggling along 1 yr behind in 11th at school. She told me she want to go to Louisiana to live with her. I didn't want her to go, but I am of the understanding that in at 17 in GA if she chose to go with her mom that there wasn't much I could do to stop her. I told her and her mom that it was a bad idea mid school year, and that I would not help, condone or give my approval. 2 1/2 weeks ago her mom showed up while I was at work, my daughter told me that that she had worked it out with the counselor at school to tranfer to the LA school and she is allowed to sign-out or transfer for herself in GA at 17. My heart broke the day she left, she sent me a txt that she was with her mom on the way to LA, but she swore that focus getting started at her new school ASAP. She even called and told me that she was taking a placement tests and was gonna get afterschool makup classes. I found out a few days ago that she has not even been to the new school and the school here contacted my about her absenses, and discovered she had lied. Now that I know about the lies she doesn't answer my calls or txt and her mom tells me to stop calling she doesn't want to talk to me, but other that she is allowed to speak to briefly tell me that her mom takes her phone rarley lets her have it without being monitored. One of her last txt to me was about all the yelling screaming and insulting name calling between her mother, step dad and others, and she thought she may have made a mistake and even mentioned coming back to GA during Thanksgiving beak from school... I guess I should have known better than to let her go but she wanted a chance to get to know her mother... I'm concerned that since she has probly spent less than 90 days with her mom her whole life, she is going along with her maybe even intimidated, and strictly monitored. She doesn't want to make her upset. Now I wonder if "I" made the worst mistake of my life by letting make her own choice against my better judgement. WHAT AM i GONNA DO, what can I do, who do I call... Playing hooky from school can alter her entire future and I VERY concerned. Any advise or information or direction would be greatly appreciated !!!

[ccsmod2]

Thank you for contacting the National Runaway Switchboard; we are a confidential and anonymous crisis hotline for youth and their families. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929). You can also reach us through live chat 7 days a week from 4:30 PM-11:30 PM (CST).

Let us begin by thanking you for reaching out to us for assistance. It sounds like you have been going through a lot lately and sometimes, asking for help can be the hardest thing to do. Hopefully, we will be able to provide you with some referrals that can help you further.

From what you said, it sounds like you have custody of your 17 year old daughter and that her mom has been in and out of her life but the relationship hasn’t been a good one. It also sounds like her mom has been ordered to pay child support but she has always managed to get out of it. We’re really sorry to hear that your daughter has left you and gone to stay with her mom; it sounds like you are concerned about her well being and her future since she isn’t attending school. When you spoke to someone at her school, were they able to provide you with any guidance or suggestions about what steps you may be able to take regarding her attendance?

It also sounds like she may have left GA without your permission, which could be considered running away. Running away isn’t illegal to do but it is a status offense, which is something young people can’t do because they are under the age of 18. One thing that you may be able to do is file a runaway report with your local police. If you aren’t comfortable with contacting them or if they won’t help, there are other agencies that may be able to assist. They take reports, coordinate with local law enforcement and may also be able to explain your options as the legal guardian. Here is there information in case you want to call them:

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: 1-800-THE-LOST (843-5678 ) or http://www.missingkids.com

Operation Lookout: 1-800-782-SEEK (7335) or http://www.operationlookout.org

Child Find: 1-800-I-AM-LOST (426-5678 ) or http://www.childfindofamerica.org.

Child Find also has a hotline for families affected by child custody issues. That number is 1-800-A-WAY-OUT (292-9688 ).

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children also has a support hotline for parents called Team H.O.P.E. and it is staffed by other parents who have been in similar situations. They can help by providing support and helping you brainstorm ideas. They can be reached at 1-866-305-4673.

We aren’t legally trained here so we’re unable to tell you what the legal age of consent is in GA. If you would like, we can provide you with some legal aid resources that may be able to better explain that to you. Also, since you are the custodial parent, you may have legal rights that they would be able to better explain to you. For example, if a youth is considered a runaway and they are staying with someone that their legal guardian doesn’t say they can stay with, the legal guardian may be able to take legal action against them.

It sounds like things are pretty rough for your daughter in LA with her mom and we’re sorry to hear that. You mentioned that when you do talk with her, she has said that she may want to return to you in GA. If that is something she is interested in, we may be able to help her out through our Home Free program but we would need for her to call us to initiate that program.

Hopefully, we have been able to provide you with some resources that will be of assistance. If you would like more or have further questions, please call us anytime at 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929). One other service we offer is a message service; you can leave a message here for your daughter and then text our number. If she can give us a call, we can give her the message you left but also try to start a conversation with her to provide her with assistance. Since we are an 800 number, she can call us from any payphone free of charge.

We look forward to hearing from you and wish you the best of luck.
~NRS

[Unregistered]

Thank You for being there, to get me started.

Thank You for being there, to get me started. If you have some legal aide resources that I could talk to about GA law, that would be a blessing !!! I will keep you up to date, I will make a few calls this evening, but I feel better already knowing you are here...

[ccsmod2]

Hello,

We’re glad that you found the resources we provided to be helpful. Hopefully, some of them will be able to point you in the right direction after talking to them.

Since we don’t know where in GA you are, we have included some legal aid numbers in the Atlanta area. If you aren’t close to Atlanta, please let us know and we can give you some different numbers.

Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc- (404) 524-5811 or http://www.atlantalegalaid.org
Georgia Legal Services Program, Inc.-(404) 206-5175, (800) 498-9469 or http://www.glsp.org
John Marshall Law School Legal Aid Clinic-(404) 873-0923

Hopefully, one of these agencies will be able to provide you with the answers you are looking for. Please remember, we are here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so call anytime you need additional information or just want to talk. We wish you the best of luck and look forward to hearing from you.

~NRS

[Unregistered]

Am i able to move out when i am 17 in missouri without my mother's consent?

I am a 17 year old female am I able to move at the age of 17 in with my friends. I feel like the adult constantly. My mom's boyfriend is 22 and schizophrenic. One day he got into a fit and almost smashed my foot with a giant tv. He had knocked over the TV, punched a hole in the wall, and then I had locked him out (in which he started to kick the door in). Luckily, i managed get the door open before he completely broke it. When he did all that my mom sent him to the local mental hospital for a week. She also had broke up with him in that time. After he did that I fixed the door frame, found someone from my church to come in and fix the wall and cleaned up the mess from the cup he smashed underneath the TV. After he broke the cup my mom went after him and I had to split them up. My point is she got back together with him, he is on meds, I just can't bring myself to feel safe when he is here. The place that I would go is totally safe and none of them would ever hurt me. What do I do?

[ccsmod5]

re: Am i able to move out when i am 17 in missouri without my mother's consent?

Hey there,

If you have contacted NRS today through another means (for example, live chat, email or bulletin) for the same issue, it would be helpful to let us know that you have already contacted 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.

Stay strong,

NRS