Leaving at 18

[Unregistered]

Hello, I'm 17 and turn 18 October of this year. I have terrible abuse going on at home that I have put up with long enough. My parents are both deputies, highly looked up to and adored but no one knew them behind closed doors. The abuse has been going as long as I can remember & luckily has never really affected me besides the fact of me ready to leave home. I have tremendous support from family all over who knows my parents and how they are, that being they are counting down the days until I'm 18. We just moved from Florida to Georgia this year & I plan to leave on my actual 18th birthday from home & return to Florida. I'm a very bright student (haven't been held back & am currently a junior) and never ever gotten in trouble with law or anything like such. I want to go right back to school the second I arrive so I can graduate & then go to college. I have a solid plan which is me simply leaving on my birthday, taking a plane back to Florida and living with my bestfriend and her family until graduation. and plenty of backup plans in case something goes wrong with that. I refuse to stay a second longer than I have to at home. My parents have told me many times before I don't have legal rights to leave when I'm 18 and mention it whenever they can as if to scare me. They have no idea I'll actually be leaving it's completely secret. I'm very nervous as to pulling myself out of school here and then registering back in Florida, am I considered homeless? What legal rights do I have? Can they take anything away from me or do anything to stop me the day I turn 18 and leave? The part that I'm most confused about is the state to state transistion. What do I need to have done and prepared before I leave? Thank you so much

[ccsmod14]

Re: Leaving at 18

Hi there,

Often, youth may reach out to NRS in several different ways to discuss their situation. If a response from NRS is not visible to a bulletin posting it may be that we have already provided services to that individual through another platform we provide such as email, our crisis hotline, or our live chat service (in operation every day from 4:30p to 11:30p CST). NRS encourages anyone in need of assistance to contact us through our 24 hour crisis hotline at 1-800-RUNAWAY to receive immediate support.

Best,
NRS

[Unregistered]

Leaving at 18

Hi! I'm the same person who left the original thread, the chat I was in didn't clarify much up besides calling my local police department and I didn't want to take any more time from them for other people than I needed. Every other question I had remained unanswered. I would love to call but my parents would hear me on the phone and I can't risk that. Thank you again

[ccsmod14]

Re: Leaving at 18

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out again. You definitely do not deserve to be abused in any way. If this is something that you would like to have reported, you can call us at 1800runaway (786 2929) and we can either do that with you or on your behalf. Another alternative is to call Child Help USA at (800) 422 4453.

It sounds like you have a plan in place that you are pretty confident about. We’re not legal experts, so we really cannot say for certain what would or would not happen regarding this situation but can only talk in general terms. Once an individual is 18, in most states, they have the right to decide where they live and make their own decisions for themselves as they are recognized as a legal adult. In regards to questions regarding school, this may be handled differently depending on the state. One resource to contact would be the school you plan to attend. Having your own identification is an important thing to have, your birth certificate, ID and social security card are all documents that are often necessary for jobs, school, etc.

Please do call or chat to talk more if you would like. We’re here 24/7!

Best,
NRS