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runways / moving out
I know a 15 year old who wants out of his mothers place and live with grandparents. If he were to run way now to grandparents will police force him to go back home in a unstable eenvironment, or will he be able to stay with grandparents happy and safe and very well taken care of?
Fyi I am from Connecticut and I know the laws are different from each state.
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Razhie is correct, the laws in all states are about the same concerning a runaway. The police must return the child to the custodial parent. There are exceptions and if you have a valid reason for running away the police will investigate before returning you to your custodial parent.
Now you have not explained why you believe your home is an unstable environment. Is mom to strict, does she waffle on what she allows you to do or not to do. This is not unstable. To be unstable she would have to be mentally impaired, be a drunk or drug addict or have a revolving door of boyfriends who live with her.
If you were to make this claim most likely what would happen is depending on where your grandparents live in. There is a 50/40 chance Child protective service (CPC) would allow you stay with them while they investigate. If they live in another state you might be brought back and put in foster care until CPS makes a determination and your grandparents request custody of you.
If your mother is providing a stable home environment. A home which is clean, has a well stocked kitchen, for healthy meals. Providing you with clean serviceable clothing, cares for you medical and dental needs and seeing to it you go to school. Then in the eyes of the law she is doing her job as a parent.
You would have to explain what you mean by an unstable environment for me or any of us to decide if that would be reason for CPS to remove you from your mother's home. If you truly believe you live in an unstable environment and want to live with your grandparents and they want you to live with them then there are two things you can do.
1)Then call them and ask them to contact CPS if they believe it is unsafe for you to live with your mother.
2)If school has not yet let out for the summer in Connecticut you can also talk with your school principal about your home life. If he or she believes you have an unstable or unsafe home life they must contact CPS.
Running away only looks bad for you. Do things the right way and it may be possible that you will get what you want.
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Typically, the police will bring him back home to his mom.
The running away may trigger an investigation into his home life, but unless his mother's home meets the legal criteria and the state believes he needs to be removed from it, he'll just be brought back. His grandparents may even face penalties if they did anything to hide him.
The only exception is if his parents and grandparents agree to have him live at the grandparents. If they all agree, then that's just fine. Usually, that is the first thing I suggest to young people in that situation: Just ask. Ask the grandparents if they'd be willing to have him, and ask the mother if she'd be willing to let him live there. Start that conversation, because the absolutely easiest way to do this is to just have the adults agree to it!
If your friend is in danger at home, the best thing you - or he - can do is tell another trusted adult like a teacher or a coach.
Child emancipation is not the first step. First off, in Connecticut you can only apply for emancipation if you are 16. Also, it's is a long process, with very strict criteria that can be nearly impossible to meet and it doesn't really apply to a minor who wants to live with another family member or have another family member be their legal guardian... Emancipation is for a minor who has no other legal guardian who needs to make their own legal decisions without their parents having any say. (For example, the decisions like seeking medical care, or joining the army, or going to school. If parents are standing in the way of those sorts of choices, emancipation allows a minor to make those decisions without their parent's involvement). Often times young people think emancipation sounds really cool, but it's very, very rarely the right solution to their problem. If his mother isn't willing to have him live with his grandparents, then the next best thing is to try and have the state investigate the home and the situation. If they find it unsafe, he'll be out of there way, way, way faster than if he tried emancipation, and his grandparents have the first right to take him in it it's determined he cannot live in his mother's home.
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Ok well if you want to help your friend what you can do is look up the child emancipation laws in their state.
Your friend can talk to the grandparents, make sure that its ok for him to stay with them and they they will vouch for him because hes a minor.
His grandparents can also patition the courts for custody of him on their own, if they feel that the living envirnment is unstable but are willing to step up and prove to the court they can provide a stable home and address as well as income enough to cover his needs for basic care.
Your friend can also go to the court house himself or go online and look for the papers for emancipation from his parents, fill it out, and then turn it in saying that he wants to be responsable for himself (even though his grandparents are willing to take care of him its just a legality so that he can break free of his parents) once hes considered legally 18 he can get a job, drive, get credit cards, and with enough money maybe even pay his own bills and get his own place. unless he'd rather still live with his grandparents.
USUALLY minors cannot cross state lines by themselves or with someone else whom his or her parents deem not suitable. In this kind of a situation, his parents CAN bring up charges on that person and get your friend in trouble where he will THEN be dragged back to his parents to have to put up with whatever kind of punishment they feel like giving him. So play that card carefully. Runing away isnt always the answer cause the cops will bring you right back if your a minor.
Emancipation first, proving that your friend lives in an unstable home number two, and getting the grandparents to petition the courts for custody would be number three.
If the grandparents do it, his parents will then at least have the comfort of knowing that hes somewhere safe even if its not at their house, so that would be a good angle to argue that at with his parents.
good luck!
; )
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