She ran away again.

[Megson]

(Oh, boy. This is going to be long...)
Okay, so I have a friend. She is my best friend. She has a lot of issues at home. The one that worries me the most is the fact that she claims that her father has beaten her before. She usually comes to me for help when she can't deal with things.

Literally. Twice now, she has run away from home and come to my house. She gets into huge fights with her family and comes to my house. I have no clue how to help her, and she can't seem to grasp the fact that my family CAN'T help her. She's a minor, they are her legal guardians. We can't keep her here with us.

So, she's done this twice. And she ran away again today, but her parents found her before she got far. I don't know how to talk to her. When I tell her that she can't stay with me, she gets angry at me and threatens to just run away from here completely. Leave Ohio and live on the streets. She's also expressed thoughts of suicide to me, and both really worry me.

What can I do to help her?

[Manga]

I suggest getting her to sit down with her family or a counselor; maybe tell her you will go with her (to the counselor, I don't think it'd be appropriate for you to be in a family discussion). If she is being beaten by her father, there are services to help her with that, you can use google to find them. Talking to her and letting her know you are there for her is a biggy. I suggest sitting down with her and letting her really fume her emotions out to you, it will make her feel better and also will make adding suggestions of what she should do a lot easier for her to accept. Ask her to call you before she comes running to your house too, you might be able to talk her out of it.

~desu

[Njathind]

Well I dont think it is fair she is mad at you for not being able to help, at the end of the day there is only so much you can do. Can you not get her to see a school councilor? Or maybe you could see the school councilor it you go to the same school, and explain whats going on and how you want to help her and what not but there is only so much you can do.