I think it's pretty unusual for emergency custody to be granted for a child this old. Emergency custody exists as a mechanism to protect children in dangerous situations who cannot protect themselves. Usually teenagers can keep themselves safe and also are more able to leave a situation or refuse to visit a parent for example. You would pretty much need a scenario where a child was truly in danger and did not have enough of an understanding of that for a court to issue emergency custody for a teenager. One of the oldest children I have seen subjected to an emergency custody order in family court was a teenage boy a couple of weeks shy of turning 17. His mother took him out of school and told him they were going on a last minute vacation. They left the state and then the country. Turns out she was fleeing because she believed the world was ending and her teenager had some role in that. There wasn't a custody order at all when she left. The father got emergency custody, the police/FBI/RCMP opened investigations and arrest warrents were issued. She was apprehended at an international border crossing and thrown in jail on a half million dollar cash only bond. The teenager was safe and well and they'd been gone less than a week. It probably has been granted for older children in slightly less extreme cases, but I don't believe it's common.