I'll tell you what you need to do to be considered fully independent.
You have to get a job. Not just any job, but a job that will allow you to pay 100% of what it takes to support yourself. That means that with no financial assistance whatsoever from any source, you need to be earning enough to pay your own rent (not a token few dollars to stay in a friend or relative's guest room, but the full rent that an unrelated person would be charged); utilities; food; clothing; medical care; insurance; transportation; staples; school supplies; internet connection; everything from shoes and shampoo to the electric bill. While you can be living with someone else, you have to be able to prove to the judge that if the person you are living with gets hit by a bus, or kicks you out, or gets transferred to Australia and cannot/will not take you with them, you will still be able to pay all your own expenses without becoming a burden to the taxpayers.
You have to be living on your own. WITH permission, at least implied. Because if you're not living on your own, you can't be fully supporting yourself and if you're not fully supporting yourself, you can't be emancipated. If you cannot get permission to move out from your parent or legal guardian, then give it up, because you won't be emancipated without their consent. At least implied consent.
You need to stay in school and while you are earning enough to pay for all the things I listed, you need to still be making better than average grades.
Then, you need to put together a budget, showing what you earn, what your expenses are (not what you anticipate they will be after you're emancipated - what they ARE. Remember, you have to have all this accomplished before you file the petition) and how the one will cover the other. This will include what you will do in the case of an unanticipated major expense.
When you have accomplished ALL of the above, THEN you will be ready to file your petition for emancipation.
Is that a clear enough breakdown for you?
Does your school know you are living with this family without your mother ? Do they have the address on record ?
Thank you so much CBG! I know you’re being a bit trite with me, but this is the information I’ve been looking for! It at least gives me an idea of what to work toward and if emancipation is truly that difficult to obtain, then at least I’ll be in a better position to live on my own when I turn 18.
They do. I’ve been working with my school districts McKenny-Vento liaison.
There was nothing "trite" in cbg's post. Those were cold hard facts about emancipation.
While you don't say where in UT I feel comfortable saying that it costs substantially more than the income from a part-time job will produce. Here are some numbers:
Apartment: $707 - $1100 avg.
Electricity: $70/mo
Possible other utilities such as water: $70/mo.
Groceries $150/mo
Medical insurance if not provided through you job: $180/mo
Phone landline/cell: $70/$100
Other misc expenses (and they will roll in more often than you think: $100/mo
On the low end this comes to $1377/mo. or $344/wk or about $10/hr for 40 hours a week, which exceeds the UT minimum wage of $7.25/hr. This is the barest bones existence with no room for even a slight hiccup. Plus you'd still have to go to school full-time figure out how you'll get around etc. This will be extremely difficult given that you are an unskilled teenager who hasn't graduated from HS. Fortunately Utah's unemployment rate is about 3.3% which is in your favor as far as wages go.
Be aware that these numbers are averages and estimates and are probably a bit low...they always seem to be, especially the misc expenses. I can't see any judge allowing you to be emancipated even if you were already doing this due to the precariousness of a plan that was so fragile. This also doesn't address the length of time it would take to go through the entire process to become emancipated.
Oh, you would also have to notify your mother who would, I'm sure, contest such a proceeding as it would impact funds she receives from the state.
I have spelled that out on a few dozen occasions, here on this board. If you'd done any kind of research on your own, even just on this website, you'd have seen it.
The fact that you didn't, makes me wonder just exactly how ready you are to be on your own, if you're still looking for someone to spoon-feed you information that is readily available.
Now, if you're really ready to be on your own, my saying that to you will make you think carefully about what it will really be like to be fully responsible for yourself. If it makes you angry and defensive, though, I hate to tell you this but it'll be proving my point.
Thank you again for your response. I’m not angry or defensive. Not in the least. I’ve already admitted I’m not yet ready to live independently. I’m here looking for guidance because I know I’m not ready. Unfortunately, it is something I may have to face. I’ve already been living without my mother for 8 months. I don’t have a parent to give me guidance right now so I do have to grow up quickly because the kindness of strangers only lasts so long.
What I really want is for my mom to get back on her meds and find us a new apartment. Failing that I want her to cooperate with the family I live with and sign a POA so I can get the care I need. Failing that I want the family I live with to become my guardians. Failing that... Maybe DCFS... but CPS investigates my mom when I was a younger child. It was a very bad experience. Regardless, I’ll be on my own in a year so I’d prefer to at least try to become independent enough to emancipate before resorting to that.
I promise you, I did read the sticky posts on this forum, other posts here too but not all of them and the majority do not contain this information. It’s very hard for me reading posts from teens who are just unhappy at home, when I don’t have one, so yes I did skip some that just appeared to be whining kids. I will try to do a better job as I research this further.
While we can appreciate your frustration with your situation and the tail chasing it engenders, no amount of research will alter your situation. You are unable to support yourself, you are living in a situation that is questionable at best and need services that you are unable to access by yourself. This is precisely why DCFS exists. You are not being properly cared for so contact DCFS. Emancipation wouldn't happen in any time frame that would help you anyway, especially with the medical/dental component.