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In child protection contexts, “running away” is almost inevitable. These behaviours reveal the restrictive nature of the daily lives of young people in care. These constraints can result in restrictions on their visiting rights (Frechon, Marquet, 2018) and, more broadly, impact their later lives, since minors are not systematically involved in decisions concerning them (Robin, 2013). Based on a field study conducted in a children’s home – including observations and interviews carried out over a four-month period as part of a doctoral research project –, this article analyses a specific type of “running away” in child protection. Labelled as such by the institution, some instances of runaways are a response to the lack of exit rights for minors placed under child welfare services (Ase). For these young people, running away becomes a way to circumvent the constraints associated with placement and experiment with the limits imposed by the protective framework. Their objective may often be to create or maintain social bonds outside the care structure.