17. Kicked Out. What do I do?
Apologies for the length, but I feel like my situation is so specific to where it’s all relevant.
I am a 17 year old boy from NH who was kicked out of the house by my mother about a month ago. I lived with my mother and stepdad, and 3 siblings who are younger than me, but all my stepfathers children. My father wasn’t active until later in my life, and even then, he isn’t in much of a position to help right now, as he isn’t a legal citizen and has other issues.
Where I used to live, I was briefly sexually, but mostly physically/emotionally abused. Beatings only resulted in black eyes rather than life threatening injuries, but the belittling as the “scapegoat” negatively affected me the most. On top of this, there was the purposeful neglect. I have been kicked out multiple times, and since 14 funded my own med/education/car/living expenses. I was not taken for routine medical/dental procedures. Despite wealth, I have years of backlogged medical/dental issues. I was usually ignored if I asked for anything. My household fought actively to prevent me getting an ADHD diagnosis despite me having a 2x familial risk (father AND mother got dxed late at 16, meds were lifesavers though sleep study recommended for suspicion of narcolepsy). There have been rare instances where while getting beaten, I feared for my life, but they were scattered.
This environment has negatively affected my school performance, and mental health to the point of me having a documented history of major depressive episodes, as well as GAD. When I got licensed and bought my own car, I made up my mind that I wouldn’t fear getting kicked out again as I built a 7k safety net. So when it eventually happened again, I just left. After 3 days, I crashed with a fam member who didn’t like me being on the streets, and for a month have lived in MA.
Right now, my mother is trying her best to hinder me, while simultaneously garnering my family against me. My graduation attempts are being blocked, mail intercepted (car registration being withheld), and I’m having a lot of trouble figuring out how I’m going to be stable, and go to community college this fall, as well as receive healthcare. I’ve researched resources available to me, and have secured legal counsel to get my GED as a McKinney-Vento student, however, they don’t have the resources to advise me on interfacing with DCF.
Mass’s resources for fosters seem like they’d really help me lead a somewhat normal life. Guardianship would put me back into the environment, as despite housing me, my aunt denies abuse has happened and try their best to appease my mother. As much as I love her, she doesn’t have the resources to raise a young adult with problems like mine at the moment. My future would be held against me whenever I was in conflict, bringing me back to square one. The ability to find subsidized independent housing, tuition assistance, MassHealth, and other resources really seem like they’d allow me to spread my wings. I could access dental care and therapy which I otherwise couldn’t. Focusing on school instead of survival would really help, too, especially as I aspire to be a physician. However, my legal aid is unable to provide support relating to filing with DCF, as it’s outside of their scope, and they rarely recommend it. Filing with them will place a lot of things outside of my control, and I have no idea who’d advocate for me if I didn’t have an attorney. I have no idea how I’d even make 100% sure my report would be substantiated. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place, and would love any ideas/suggestions on where to go next.
TL;DR: 17. Abuse/kicked out. How/Should I interface with CPS?