Leaving the state without parent consent

[Unregistered]

I am a 17 year old in new york state and I want to go to florida for spring break. I'm sure my parents wouldn't let me so I want to know if I can be forced to come back if I leave without their consent?

[ccsmod13]

RE: Leaving the state without parent consent

Thanks for reaching out to the National Runaway Safeline. We are here to make sure you are safe in any situation, so we appreciate you checking in with us.

We are not legal expert, but we can speak in general terms what could happen. Anytime someone under the age of majority (usually 1 leaves home without his/her legal guardian’s permission, they would be considered a runaway. What usually happens is the guardian will make a runaway report with the police, where the runaway’s identifying information (name, date of birth, etc) will be put into a computer system. If the runaway gets picked up by the police (sleeping in a park, breaking the law, etc) their name will show up as a runaway and will most likely be returned home.

In your situation, you would be crossing state lines. This could mean additional/more severe consequences, including for the person/people who provided transportation to get you there. (We cannot answer specific legal questions because we are not trained about individual states’ laws.) If someone knows you left home without permission and lets you stay with them anyway, they could get charged with what’s called ‘harboring a runaway’ which has legal consequences of its own.

If you did go to Florida without your parent’s consent, and a runaway report was made for you and you were picked up, your parents would be notified and arrangements to get you back home would most likely be made. We are not here to tell you what to do, but we encourage you to call us at 1-800-RUNAWAY so we can work through this situation with you together. Your safety is important to us, and regardless of what you decide to do, we are here to help.

Best,
NRS