My Cousin Needs Help

[bobbylewisNov8th]

this is a pretty long story, sorry if you get bored

okay, well im 15 and my little cousin sam is 13.
the thing is my aunt isn't the most stable woman and neither is her husband.
She has three kids.
Two daughters, 8 and 5, who are children from her current husband.
And a son, 13, from her previous marriage.
So my little cousin is like the odd ball out.
He doesn't have a place to fit into thier family.
At thier house he has 4 hours worth of chores, daily.
Which include cooking, cleaning, getting his sisters dressed even though they are clearly old enough to do it themselves, and more.
About two years ago they all lived down the street from me,my mom and my brother and everything was fine.
He still had the long list of chores (he was about 11 at the time), but he could escape all that responsibilty by coming down to my house.
He got close to my brother and they spent every moment they could spare together.
My house was like his little slice of heaven where he didn't have to deal with anything.
Then they moved.
He was all alone again, in a new school and dealing with all the things a 11 year old should'nt have to deal with.
He began to isolate himself.
He would get in trouble at school and yell at his parents.
He missed the bus one morning and as punishment my aunt decided to make him bike to school.
That doesn't sound bad, except for the fact that it was raining in october and his house is 5 miles away from the school.
He gets grounded almost on a daily basis so my aunt doesn't feel guilty about making him do all the house work.
My grandpa died a little while back and our whole family kind of fell apart. Sam was one grandchild that was extremely close to him and after his death he became considerably worse.
He doesn't even talk to anybody anymore and has tried on numerous occasions to runaway.
He isn't the same little boy i used to know and sneak cookies when he came down to my house, he's changed and not for the better.
And if he stays in that kind of atmosphere he might not change back.
I need to know if theres a way that he could get emancipated and come live with us.
So please help.
Because i miss him.

[Happy Trails]

Ohio does not have statutes that address the type of emancipation you are asking about.

He could talk with a school guidance counselor and perhaps they can help him through the difficulties he is having at home.

If you believe he is being abused or neglected you can report it to CPS (child protection services).

[cbg]

Even if Ohio did have such a statute as you are talking about, no state will emancipate a 13 year old.