<p>Say I'm 21, and have been living in a group home for homeless young adults since I graduated high school. Would I be considered financially independent?</p>
<p>See <a href=“https://fafsa.ed.gov/fotw1314/help/fahelp29a.htm[quote]A”>https://fafsa.ed.gov/fotw1314/help/fahelp29a.htm
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<p>Your parents kicked you out as soon as you graduated high school?
Wow, most parents would give their kids a few months or even longer to find a job first.
What reasoning did they give?</p>
<p>Emeraldkitty, there are many kids in the OP’s situation. I had a family in my church that informed their kids all along that they were on their own after graduation. In addition, kids who are in foster care are usually dumped by the welfare system as soon as they turn 18 or graduated from high school. Some foster parents feel close to the kids and let them stay on, but many turn them out of the house.</p>
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What kind of church are they attending?</p>
<p>@emeraldkitty4- I’m leaving because of pretty serious differences between my parents and I, and am hoping to get into this group home (fingers crossed- they should tell me within the week whether or not I got in). I can afford CC, but want to go on to get my bachelors when I’m 21/22.</p>
<p>Must be a pretty big disagreement, unless it was your intention to leave home anyways.</p>
<p>If you are leaving your home because of family differences, you may have more difficulty proving you are “homeless”. This will be especially true if your parents say you can come live in their home if you can get along. </p>
<p>There is often an issue underlying situations like the OP’s, and students do not always want to go into the details. If a student is accepted into a homeless shelter and is able to provide documentation of that fact to the school, the student will be automatically independent. </p>
<p>I guess I was just thinking if you are choosing to move out, why not get a job and pay rent, why go to a shelter?</p>
<p>Maybe 'choosing; to leave an abusive situation. Maybe if eligible for a shelter situation where there will be support and services is the best option.</p>
<p>Hey guys, I really wish you’d try not to speculate my personal situation. Thank you to everyone who provided help though.</p>
<p>If it is an abusive situation, why werent they already in foster care?
What Im saying is, if it was tolerable until they were 18, what changed?
Without more information, it sounds like the flipside of parents who ask if their kids move out, can they claim to be " independent".</p>
<p>I’m wondering if the shelter allows for long term living. You are talking about when you are 22-23, which is several years away (?). Most programs are shorter term. I guess I wouldn’t count on this being your living situation in a few years. Try to get the legal issues settled now, when you are still living at home. If you can become independent by court order, it will be easier for you down the road.</p>
<p>I was trying to nicely say myob. </p>
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<p>Yes, because every case of abuse is caught by the foster care system. That’s why no one leaves home at 18 to escape abusive parents. </p>
<p>Anyway, it’s really irrelevant given what kelsmom said about being automatically independent if documented homelessness occurs. </p>
<p>In many cities, it’s quite difficult to get into a homeless shelter- especially if you’re young, single, healthy, and have family that can take you in. </p>
<p>I’m not sure of the exact statistics, but it wouldn’t surprise me if foster care missed more cases than it caught. They can’t get involved until something has already been documented, after all, and a ton of abused kids don’t trust teachers or police enough to bring the issue to attention. Plus, emotional abuse is incredibly hard to prove and a legal grey area, yet is no less harmful than physical abuse and disturbingly common.</p>
<p>I was speaking from experience.
I was raised in a time & place where you became an adult at 18, and what adults did was live away from their parents. They often had to find pretty dogy lodgings as it were, that you shared with several people, but I didn’t know any one who lived in a shelter.</p>