my son ran away with his girlfriend

[jenny_hic]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma

They are both 17. She will be 18 on May 15th and he will be on July 23rd. They ran away 6 days ago. He called last night and they are in CA. His girlfriend has a history of running away. Apparantly her entire family are drug addicts and alcoholics. My son told me that they were not coming back until she was 18 unless she didn't have to go back home.

Here is my question:
If they come back, can they stay with me or would I be breaking the law?

What are the girl's options?

I understand that there are some issues here, but right now I just want to get my son back to Oklahoma and then we can deal with that.

I don't know where he is exactly, he called anonymous from a payphone.

Does his girlfriend have any options other than going home? I know she can go to CPS, but will they make her go home while they investigate?

 

[CdwJava]

WMy son told me that they were not coming back until she was 18 unless she didn't have to go back home.

And as a pair of underage kids without jobs, income, or legal status, just what do they plan to do in CA to survive?

Here is my question:
If they come back, can they stay with me or would I be breaking the law?

If her parents do not give permission, you would likely be breaking a few laws.

What are the girl's options?

She can go home. She can also go to her local police or child service agency and report whatever is happening in the home. Dollars to donuts it it nos nearly as bad as she is making it out to be (in my experience 9 out of 10 of these situations are greatly overblown and are more an issue of the teen not liking the home life and not that they are being neglected or abused).

I understand that there are some issues here, but right now I just want to get my son back to Oklahoma and then we can deal with that.

You HAVE reported him as a runaway, right? If not, why not?

As of right now they have no legal status in CA and cannot get jobs or a place to live. My guess is they are staying with friends - possibly someone they met on line ... who knows what that might lead to. I can relate a few horror stories if you'd really like to hear them.

Does his girlfriend have any options other than going home? I know she can go to CPS, but will they make her go home while they investigate?

Unless she is in immediate danger, they will have no choice but to take her home. If they do take her, it will be to put her in foster care or another relative not to live with you.

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma



I don't know where he is exactly, he called anonymous from a payphone.

**A: so when he called, you did not know who he was?

 

[Zigner]

How do you know he's in California? (Discounting his spoken word, of course)

 

[stmfitr636]

... My guess is they are staying with friends - possibly someone they met on line ... who knows what that might lead to. I can relate a few horror stories if you'd really like to hear them.

I know I would!