Running away to a friends house

[ccsmod3]

Hi, thank you for reaching out. It sounds like you are wanting to run away from home and go to a friend’s house. Having a safe place to go is the most important thing to consider. Also if you were to run away, your parents/guardians could file a runaway report with police and you would likely be brought back home. It is also unlikely that you would be able to get a job at 11, especially without parents giving you permission to do so. If you would like to talk more about why you are wanting to run away or talk through some other options, please call our hotline 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929) or chat us online at 1800runaway.org. We hope to hear from you soon.
Be safe,
NRS

Hello i'm 11 and I want to run away from my house I live in Virginia close to Washington D.C. I was thinking to run away and get a job at Starbucks or something like that is it safe pls respond ASAP thank you!

[ccsmod11]

Thank you so much for reaching out to the National Runaway Safeline. You are certainly going through a lot right now with is really, really unfortunate! Without even knowing what your family life is like, it’s evident that you are struggling a lot and our hearts go out to you.


You have asked a lot of great questions and hopefully we can get them answered. It’s very hard not knowing your age, but in a simple google search, it shows that in Virginia that 18 is the legal age to be considered an adult. Running away is not considered a criminal matter and if you look at www.vbgov.com you will see that the state makes a good effort to try to deal with the situation and attempts to correct the situation at home, potentially with counseling services. Regarding your friend’s parents, Virginia takes harboring a minor pretty seriously and could result in fines and potential prison time for the adults. Being under 18 and getting picked by law enforcement will likely result in being returned to your home. As mentioned above, it does seem like Virginia takes running away very seriously and will try to help in any way they can. As far as your birth certificate and other legal documents, it’s probably best to only have copies with you should you decide to leave. If real documents were to get lost or stolen, it becomes a real challenge for anyone to try to replace them. And unfortunately, being on the streets as a runaway, it is possible that despite your efforts to keep things safe, your belongings may be stolen. It’s really a crazy world on the streets.



Hopefully these answers will assist you. It would be great if you could reach out to us either via our Chat option or phone so we could speak to you and get some more details what’s making it so hard to be at home. We have a database of resources that may be of help to you provided we can get just a bit more detail about your situation. Our chat option is available at www.1800runaway.org and we have people ready to speak to you at 1-800-786-2929. Both chat and live calls are available 24/7.



Thanks again for reaching out to the National Runaway Safeline. Hope we hear from you soon!



Good Luck!



Sincerely,

National Runaway Safeline.

I live in Halifax Virginia. Ive tried to commit 4 times and my fourth time i was hospitalized and sent to a mental hospital for two weeks. i cannot stay in that house. ive thought of almost everything if i do happen to run away i have a friend who lives maybe 10 minutes in some change by foot and i have an escape plan to leave from home. I cant stay i that house with my mother and stepdad i dont prefer to go in detail but she has taken full custody away from my real father and he lives in another country so it would be hard to go to him ive found my birth certificate and my mothers and other legal documents should i take those with me and maybe try to send them to my father somehow? if my friends family is charged with kidnapping even if they dont know im a runaway can they still get in trouble? and if the cops do find me can i tell them the reason i ran away so my friend and her family doesnt get in trouble?

[ccsmod15]

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. We want you to know that we are here as support to help you through this challenging time. We can best help by phone or chat as NRS is unable to respond more than twice by email or bulletin for assistance. If you would like to talk more in detail and share more about how we can help specifically, 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.
We hope to hear from you soon.
Be safe,
NRS

Im 14 years old and I have a really bad home and u wanna run away but I don’t know where I need help can u guys plz help me

[ccsmod10]

Hi, we are grateful that you contacted us, and we recognize that reaching out for help like this is not easy. What you have described is definitely abusive behavior, and is not how you deserve to be treated. You deserve to feel supported, accepted, and loved at home, not ridiculed, disrespected, or unsafe.

Leaving to stay with someone else is an option. It can be helpful to consider how your parents might react if you did that. Technically, if you left without them knowing, they could file a runaway report, which would authorize police to come check where you were. Considering your age, it is unlikely that they would forcibly return you home if you said that your home was abusive, but technically they COULD do so. Runaway laws are pretty inconsistently enforced so it can be difficult to predict exactly what would happen.

Even if you are just staying with someone for a few days, it might be beneficial to your mental health to get some time and space away from home.

We can talk more about your situation if you text chat us (1800runaway.org) or call us (1-800-786-2929). Discussing the specifics some more might help highlight other ways to improve your situation. Please don't hesitate to reach out; we are on your side.

Hi, I'm 16 and I live in a house where my dad yells at me a lot, and emotionally abuses me to a point I numb. Mom ignores me until I snap into a meltdown, she them gets in my face too closely and I shove her. It's happened a few times. They yell at me for eating, and always say I'm disrespectful, explosive and crazy. For years I've had to deal with this. Today, Mom did the same thing as previously and dragged me off my feet across the house to my room, throwing me on the floor and shutting the door. Dad came into the house after hearing me screaming and took her side immediately, yelling at me how he'd send me to a mental hospital for hurting my mom. She laughed at me while he was screaming. I told multiple people what happened and a couple of people have offered to pick me up out, I'm not sure if I should take their offer. But I'm not safe here either. What do I do?

[ccsmod10]

We're thankful you reached out to us; it's not always easy. It sounds like your mom, despite not being physically abusive, has made you feel unsafe/unwelcome/uncomfortable at home. Emotional / verbal abuse are absolutely real, and they can have as deep of an impact as physical abuse.

A change of environment can make a big difference in one's mental health, and staying in a new space might help shake off the suicidal thoughts you expressed. If you were to leave home, your mom could technically report you as a runaway, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'd be forced to return home. It would allow law enforcement to look for where you were staying, but every police department handles these cases differently. In the case where older minors (like yourself) are fleeing an abusive home, you are more likely to be given agency around where you stay. It is technically possible they could return you home even if you didn't wish to.

You can look up the non-emergency phone number for your local police department and ask them how they would respond to your particular running away situation.

We are here to help every step of the way. Please don't be afraid to chat us at 1800runaway.org or call us at 1-800-RUNAWAY to discuss things more. You don't have to deal with this alone.

NRS

Im 16, and living in Ohio. My mother doesn't physically abuse me I must admit but mentally I feel as though she does... I can't explain it but I don't feel safe here. Can the police force me to go home if I tell them I don't feel safe? I have money. and i know if i run away ill be safe. Im scared of getting found. Not because im scared of the police, im scared of my mom. I dont mentally feel safe at home and it's triggered some suicidal thoughts..

[ccsmod3]

Hi there, thank you for reaching out. It sounds like you were a run away when you were 10 years old due to some abuse that happened and possibly being trafficked. We want you to know that you did not deserve to be treated this way. It can definitely be helpful to talk with others who have similar experiences and helping provide support to others who are also struggling. A resource that might be able to help or give some options like that is the National Human Trafficking Hotline: 888-373-7888. You can talk to people who have somewhat of an understanding of what you possibly went through and might be able to provide you with some resources to connect you to additional support. If you would like to discuss further with us, please call our hotline 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929) or chat us online at 1800runaway.org.
Be safe,
NRS

I live in Indiana also and was a 10 year old runaway because I was being sexually abused and believe I was being sex trafficked! It’s hard and there is something called the youth shelter in the town I live in and they could probably help you or give you some ideas of what the laws are. I’m so sorry for the pain you are going through but please know just keep fighting for what’s right and eventually your life with be better.
feeling sorrow

[ccsmod16]

Hi,
thanks for reaching out; we are glad that you did. Your home sounds truly awful between the dirt and bodily fluids and the constant drinking. And your foot never having been healed with a doctor's help is wrong and awful too.
If you go to your girlfriend's house and you tell her parents to call your state's Child Abuse Hotline so that this situation can be reported, they will not get in any trouble for helping you to be safe.
If you want to talk further about this, please call us at our hotline 1-800-786-2929 or chat us through this website.
We truly hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
NRS

I'm 14 and I cant stay here

I live in Mo. We live and a filthy camper that my parents refuse to keep clean. This happened at our old house too. It was covered in rat feces and other bodily fluids, trash was stacked high enough it made it hard to walk. My parent's drink constantly and refuse to do anything to fix our situation. We currently dont have hot water or cleaning products of any kind. I'm constantly blamed for the problems we have and am forced to deal with it myself.

I have had mental health issues over looked and blatantly refused to be taken to a doctor about. I had doctors appointments for a broken foot that was canceled after it became to expensive.

I want to run away to my girlfriends house but I'm scared of what will happen to her and her dad

[ccsmod15]

Hello and thanks for reaching out to the Runaway Safeline. Your situation sounds really stressful and you deserve to live some where you feel safe and taken care of.

First of all, if you were to leave your home without the permission of your legal guardian, they could file a police report and have you returned to them. And yes, your friend’s parents could get into trouble for what is known as “harboring a runaway”. This could be a serious charge, so it is smart of you to consider this possibility.

Another possibility for leaving home, if you feel that you are being neglected or are living in an unsafe environment, is you could file a report with Child Protective Services. It sounds like you may have already had some experience with CPS, but if you have not been placed in a suitable home, you still deserve to be helped. This is something you can do by yourself by contacting Childhelp.org, or we, at NRS, can help you file a report as well.

It might be helpful for us to know more details about your situation in order to give you the best advice. If you would like more support, please feel free to call us or chat with us online at 1-800-RUNAWAY (786-2929)/ 1800runaway.org any time in order to talk in more detail. Good luck!