Thank you for your response above. The situation we are in is a child that is one week from being 16 left home in April of this year and father has not attempted to get him or do anything about the fact he is living in the streets. The boys mother is in drug rehab and the father (according to son) is a user of cocaine and alcohol. He has been reported for domestic violence and has had HRS called on the kids. However, nothing has happened because he has the kids so scared they will not admit to anything. The boy is now living with a family that he is friends with and the mother wants to try and gain guardianship of him. She does not want to take away any parental rights, she is trying to help the boy get counseling and work through this. She has had him in contact with his father but it turns into a very dramatic situation with the father drinking and being vulgar. The mother has given power of attorney to the family so that she can register him in school, because in the past he wasn't able to stay in school long because he could never get his dad to get him there. His extended family has tried to help and does pay for private schooling but the father threatens the boy if he tries to go and see them. The father has been indicted on embezelment charges from his former employer and as said before, there is public reports filed against him and his ex wife over a long period. My question is this, in the state of Florida is there a time frame a child has away from a parent that they can file abandonment? Also, is there an age that a judge would allow the child to make his own decisions? This family is willing to see him through all of this but they are not sure what steps to take. The father has not filed any missing persons or attempted to get the child since he has been gone.
Thank you for your time with this lengthy scenerio.
Sincerely

First, Please don't piggyback your question on someone else's thread. This can often lead to confusion. You should start your own thread. So I've moved this to its own thread.

Second, if you read the thread that you posted to, you would have seen that child abandonment is not going to be an issue here. The child was not abandoned but left on their own. That the custodial parent did not try regain custody does not make them liable for abandonment.

The people wanting to care for this child should be exploring two alternatives. First, is to try and get guardianship so they can legally take care of the child. The second (and much harder) would be to emancipate the child.

In either case, retaining a Family law attorney to advise as to the best course of action would be the next step.