16 yr old daughter left home to live with 22 yr old cousin without parents consent.

[Guest]

16 yr old daughter left home to live with 22 yr old cousin without parents consent. Should the parents report her a runaway to the police?

[ccsmod13]

Hello,

Thanks for reaching out to the National Runaway Safeline. We are here to listen and help as best as we can. It sounds like you are going through a really tough time not having your youth home and being unsure of their safety. They are lucky to have someone that cares so much about them. Making a runaway report is up to the discretion of the parents. As long as a youth is living somewhere safe and is still being supported, parents can give them permission to live away from home. We are not legal experts here, but typically it is not illegal to runaway or leave home without permission. However, if a runaway report is filed, police that encounter a runaway youth will work to return them home when found. Contacting police would be one way to have the youth returned home.

If you do not have contact with your child, we also offer a message service where parents can call us to leave a message for their child. If the youth calls in, we can deliver this message. We also take messages from youth to their parents that we deliver as well. This can be a great option for you to express yourself in a safe, productive, and non-confrontational way. If you choose to utilize our message service, we encourage you to spread the word to anyone you think may be in contact with your child to increase the chances of your message being retrieved.

Take care,
NRS