Up date on Nebraska safe haven law

Fitness_Chick

Hokay, I'm adding one more case...Did you read on the AOL news feed yesterday about the girl who was 14 years old and weighed 48 pounds? CPS checked on her a few years ago and figured it wasn't bad enough to do much yet. As of recent, she was taken away from her parents after being locked up. Don't you just wish the parents would have turned her over? I'm all for getting help and asking if needed. I wish more parents could do so if needed.

how sad

Fitness_Chick

OMG!! What is wrong with these people?!!

There was also the guy who dropped off ALL of his kids and the oldest was 17!!!!

apparently no proper parenting skills :brokenheart:

I prefer now to take my statement back....I assumed an awful lot writing that.(about the 'no proper parenting skills)... I think better to leave the children where they at least will be cared for than ....well, like PLaundry shared....who knows what it might lead to if they can't deal with the children. From anything to finances, depression, the guy who took his life and the life of his family...all because he was so scared, confused and must have been incredibly overwhelmed wondering just how he could ever provide for them all with the loss of his job and his home.

We really don't know the stories behind the stories.... I think I've been assuming much to much ....and prefer to think more on the positive side now that I've thought upon it more.

I think the law orignated for young people who had children and were scared, had told no one and had no clue how to care for them, or disclose it and so they left them in unsafe places, .....they must have been in incredible shock giving birth at 12 and a couple younger and even 17 is young to have to think of caring for a baby with no money, trying to hide it all, stay in school....etc.

I can see how total shock and post partum could make them do just about anything. Some have gone back to pick up their infants and been offered parenting skills workshops...I think that's awesome so they are able to learn how to cope, get job skills, finish out their education etc., creating a much safer environment for the child and the parent

That's WHY the law was created originally so young folks weren't so afraid to leave their infants in a safe place, the firestation, police station, churches, hospitals etc... they wouldn't be prosectuted if only they left them in safer environments.

Unfortunatly infants are still abadoned in locations where when they are found are often not doing so well, garbage bags, school bathrooms....you know these young kids must be freaking out to do that sort of thing....

I think the safe haven law for infants should be National....the young kids having babies ....sheesh they have no clue what to do....and abuse would not be the better choice....being able to safely give them up would be or being offered skills on how to care for themselves and their child.

Marla64

UPDATE ON THE UPDATE-- this just reported--


MSNBC.com

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Neb. agrees on 'safe haven' age limit
Lawmakers agree to cap child's drop-off age to no more than 3 days old
The Associated Press
updated 7:19 p.m. ET, Mon., Oct. 20, 2008
LINCOLN, Neb. - Stung by the abandonments of children as old as 17 under Nebraska's new "safe haven" law, the governor and lawmakers agreed Monday to narrow the legislation's broad wording to protect only the parents of newborns from prosecution.

Forty of the Legislature's 49 senators support amending the law so it applies only to infants up to 3 days old, legislative Speaker Mike Flood said at a news conference. The age cap would change the Nebraska law from the most lenient to one of the nation's most restrictive.

At least 18 children, the youngest 22 months and many of them teens, have been abandoned since the law took effect in July. Nebraska's law doesn't define the word "child," so it has been interpreted to let anyone leave child up to age 18 at a state-licensed hospital without fear of prosecution for the abandonment.

Most states let parents and guardians drop off children who are up to a month old at hospitals or other safe institutions. Sixteen states have a 3-day-old age cap such as the one agreed to in Nebraska.

Every state has a safe-haven law, which is meant to save the lives of unwanted infants.

Unintended consequences
The Nebraska law has had "serious, unintended consequences," Gov. Dave Heineman said. "This law needs to be changed to focus on infants."

The governor reiterated that he would prefer not to call a special session before the Legislature's regular session in January. But he indicated he could change his mind.

"If circumstances dictate, particularly if we have several more from out of state, I won't hesitate to make that call" for a special session, Heineman said.

Should Heineman not call a special session, Flood said, lawmakers would quickly change the law, probably within the first couple weeks of the session.

The rash of drop-offs included a teenage girl from Iowa and a Michigan boy whose mother drove to Omaha to leave him at a Omaha hospital. The events put Nebraska in the type of national spotlight that makes politicians wince.

"Saturday Night Live" poked fun at the law last weekend. During the "Weekend Update" segment, Seth Meyers said, "A second teenager has been left at an area hospital under Nebraska's new safe-haven law, which allows parents to abandon their children without fear of prosecution. Or what is known in Manhattan as boarding school."

Psychological scars
A national expert on safe-haven laws commended Nebraska officials for moving to impose an age limit, but he said action should be taken now to prevent older children from receiving the scars of abandonment.

"It affects children," said Tim Jaccard, president of the National Safe Haven Alliance. "When children are older they have the ability to understand what's going on and they're thinking, 'Mommy and Daddy don't want me anymore, so they're throwing me in a hospital.' That's a psychological blow."

Jaccard said that over the last decade about 1,560 kids have been dropped off under safe-haven laws.

Before the law is changed, Nebraska officials are trying to prevent more drop-offs.

Heineman has authorized Health and Human Services to spend up to $100,000 promoting a help line for parents and guardians operated by United Way. If it is flooded with calls, up to $200,000 in state money could be used to add phone lines.


The state is also sending letters to all adoptive parents and guardians of children who are former state wards. The letter provides phone numbers and Web sites of agencies that can help them if they are having problems with their children.

The letter also suggests parents contact Boys Town, an Omaha home for troubled youths that for decades has taken in children who are having problems.

The letter does not mention that Nebraska has a safe-haven law.


Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27282433/

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