9 Children Abandoned Under New Nebraska Safe Haven Law
Thu, 2008-09-25 15:46 - Kerry
Posted by Jane Akre, InjuryBoard.com
Thursday, September 25,
Nebraska TV is reporting that a father of nine children dropped them at a hospital in Omaha just before 7 Wednesday night.
The states new Safe Haven Law allows children to be left at state-licensed hospitals without facing legal charges. KETV in Omaha is reporting that the children range in age from 1 to 17 years and are reportedly all from the same family. They have been turned over to child protection services.
The children were left at the emergency room at the Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha. The father has not been identified.
Safe haven laws were originally designed for a mother to relinquish custody of her infant at a safe and secure location if she was unable to care for the baby, without fear of prosecution. But the state law includes the word “child” and fails to specify any ages.
That means that in Nebraska, someone up to the age of 19, still considered a minor, could be dropped off.
Other states with Safe Haven laws specify a maximum drop-off age of one year old.
The Associated Press reports that teenagers are now being dropped off. Two teens and one pre-teen have been dropped off at eastern Nebraska hospitals and a police station.
Last month on the Huffington Post, Adam Pertman, executive director of a New York adoption institute warned that casting such a wide net, "circumvents every rational practice in child welfare that I'm aware of. Whether the kid is disabled or unruly or just being a hormonal teenager, the state is saying 'Hey we have a really easy option for you.' "
"All children deserve our protection," said Sen. Tom White to Huffington Post, who helped broaden the measure. "If we save one child from being abused, it's well, well worth it."
Nebraska is the last state in the nation to adopt a Safe Haven law. Prior to the laws, many children had been abandoned in inappropriate places that put them in danger.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services is holding a news conference this morning to discuss the law and its intent.
Many predicted it might have far reaching implications when it was put into law in July and already plans are being discussed to amend the law during the next legislative session.
It will be up to the county attorney to recommend whether the child remains in the custody of the state or returns home. A judge ultimately will decide on the placement. There is no prosecution of the father or mother, unless the children have been abused.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 90,000 infants are maltreated every year in this country. About one of every 43 infants is in danger, mostly during the first week of their lives.
Maltreatment includes neglect as well as physical abuse, though the majority, 68.5 percent of the cases, involved neglect.
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A "free-ticket" system
I see two major problems with Safe Haven Laws.... and both problems relate to the the words "accountability" and "responsibility".
Problem #1: How many parents are going to see the Safe Haven Law as being their ticket to freedom? ["Hey, I don't have to worry about taking care of my children, because if I drop them off at a hospital, the state will take care of them for me -- no questions asked!"]
Problem #2: How many child placement/adoption agencies are hoping this law will only apply to easy-to-sell infants? ["It's much easier to place a baby in a home than it is to place a child or family of children in another person's home."]
How exactly do child-drop-off systems and operations benefit the people needing help raising their own children?
about profits and panic
I totally agree with your observation and it is even worse. The safe havens, as originated in the Baby Moses laws in Texas, were originally intended to prevent babies from being thrown in dumpsters or otherwise being abandoned in unsafe places. The problem with the safe havens though, is that it requires a deliberate decision to drop the children there, where the baby dumping practice is an extreme case of panic stricken reaction. No one in his/her right mind would willfully and calmly put a baby in a dumpster. Doing so is not a rational decision, but utterly erratic behaviour, driven by total panic.
Do you think, someone in such a state of mind would reconsider the dumping action and instead take a baby to a safe haven? Of course not, and the experience with safe have laws has already proven that dumping babies at unsafe locations hasn't declined as result of the implementation of the laws. Instead, as you already stated it makes it easier for people who would not put their children at grave risk, but want to rid of them anyway, to use the safe haven laws as an easy abandonment route.
The safe haven laws that swept the nation in a short period of time were staunchly promoted by the National Council for Adoption, that of course proclaimed the interest of the child as they always do, but in fact like to see higher abandonment figures so the agencies affiliated have an extra buck to make, or in some cases another soul to save.
An update on one family's case
More information on this case of "parental abandonment" has been revealed:
12 Year Old Boy Dropped Off In Lincoln Under Safe Haven Law
from: www.klkntv.com
Another child has been dropped off at a Lincoln hospital under the Safe Haven law.
This marks the second time that this has happened in Lincoln, and 16 times total since the law went into effect in the state of Nebraska.
Lincoln police say a 12-year-old was dropped off just before 11 o'clock Sunday night by his grandmother who had just gotten custody of the boy back in September. He was taken here, to Bryan LGH West.
Lincoln police say his 51-year-old grandmother could no longer take care of him.
This marks the second time in Lincoln this has happened, and Chief Tom Casady believes more are to come.
He says "It provides an opportunity to drop the child off without any kind of negative consequence and i think there are plenty of people who will take advantage of that I'm rather surprised that the Legislatures didn't see this coming because I can assure you that everyone at the police department saw it coming."
The grandmother had just gotten custody of the boy, and Lincoln police say 1 of his parents still lives here in Lincoln. You may remember just last month, 9 children from one family were dropped off at a hospital in Omaha.
This has raised many questions from people who say this law, which states anyone up to the age of 19 can be dropped off, is just too broad.
14-year-old Iowa girl abandoned under Nebraska law
from: ap.google.com
JOSH FUNK
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 14-year-old Iowa girl was abandoned Tuesday in Nebraska under its safe haven law, but the person who left her could face prosecution in the girl's home state, Nebraska health officials said.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said the girl is from Council Bluffs, Iowa, just across the Missouri River from Omaha. She was left at Creighton University Medical Center on Tuesday afternoon, and her case was reported to Iowa authorities.
The girl is the 17th child overall and the first from another state to be abandoned since the law took effect in July.
It was meant to protect the lives of infants by letting a parent leave them at any state-licensed hospital without fear of prosecution, but the law doesn't set any age limit.
The law's legal protections might not apply since the girl is not from Nebraska, said Todd Landry, director of the department's division of Children and Family Services.
"We have made a formal report of the abandonment to the Iowa child abuse hotline," Landry said in a statement. "We are working with the Iowa Department of Human Services to resolve this situation as quickly as possible."
Nebraska HHS spokeswoman Jeanne Atkinson said few details were known Tuesday evening because the girl's situation was still being investigated.
Creighton hospital spokeswoman Kathy Brennan said she didn't know the circumstances of the girl's case. Hospitals in previous safe-haven cases have called police and turned the abandoned child over, and Omaha police have referred questions to state health officials.
Health officials have stressed that parents should seek other resources before resorting to abandonment. They've urged desperate parents to ask for help from family, faith-based groups and other community services.
Many children left to date under the safe-haven law have been teenagers or preteens. The law mentions "child" without defining it, and as a result encompasses anyone up to age 19.
Nine children abandoned last month were siblings abandoned by a father who said he was overwhelmed.
State lawmakers are already discussing changes to the law they passed in the spring, but they may not be able to act until the Legislature reconvenes in January.
Gov. Dave Heineman has been reluctant to call a special session of the Legislature.
Michigan parents abandon 13-year-old under Nebraska safe haven l
from: detnews.com
Francis X. Donnelly
The Detroit News
A Michigan teen today became the second person from outside Nebraska abandoned in the state under Nebraska's safe-haven law.
A parent of the 13-year-old Michigan boy flew to Omaha, Neb., to leave the child at a city hospital early this morning, a Nebraska official said.
A unique Nebraska law that went into effect July 18 allows children as old as 18 to be abandoned at state-licensed hospitals without fear of prosecution.
It wasn't known why the Michigan boy was left at the hospital. He was placed in an emergency shelter.
Last week, a 14-year-old girl from Iowa was left at an Omaha hospital by her grandparents. She has since been returned to the family.
Besides the two nonresidents, 16 children from Nebraska between the ages of 1 and 17 have been left at hospitals under the law. Several parents or guardians cited uncontrollable behavior as the reason for the abandonment.
You can reach Francis X. Donnelly at (313) 223-4186 or fdonnelly@detnews.com.
Mom who left child in Nebraska returns, faces neglect allegation
from: freep.com
October 17, 2008
The Southfield woman who left her adopted teen son in Nebraska because she said she couldn’t handle him anymore appeared in court this afternoon to face neglect allegations that have at least temporarily cost her and her husband custody of all of their children.
The parents face a Nov. 7 pretrial hearing, Oakland County family court referee Karla Mallett ordered this afternoon. The state will move at the next hearing to terminate the family’s parental rights to the teen left at an Omaha hospital earlier this week – a child both parents said in affidavits that they did not want.
The Free Pres is not identifying the parents because no criminal charges have been filed against them in the case.
The state will also seek to keep his three siblings in temporary foster care, where they have been since Thursday. Mallett did allow weekly, supervised visitation for the parents with the other children.
The hearing marked the first court appearance of the mother, who said she has been back in metro Detroit since Thursday. She said in an affidavit that she feared her decision to give away their son was that she and her husband could lose custody of their other children.
Nebraska’s safe haven law allows parents to leave a child up to 17 years of age at a hospital without fear of prosecution for abandonment.
The petition filed Wednesday by the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office outlines several apparent marks of abuse against the 13-year-old, including burns on his chest and hands and scars on his body. The petition said the father did nothing to stop the abuse, and the mother's family knew the abuse was happening.
The petition reported the mother knew the 13-year-old had behavioral issues and was supposed to be on medication. The child missed multiple mental health appointments. At one time, the parents tried to rescind the adoption but worried about losing their biological children. The father said they felt "railroaded" into adopting the 13-year-old in order to get the 10-year-old sibling, who was a baby at the time.
The 13-year-old is still in Nebraska, but is expected to return to Michigan in the next few days.
Contact MEGHA SATYANARAYANA at 313-223-4544 or megha@freepress.com.
22nd child abandoned at Neb. hospital under law
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 15-year-old girl was abandoned by her father Tuesday night at an Omaha hospital, bringing to 22 the number of children left under the state's unique safe-haven law since it took effect in July.
The girl left Tuesday at Omaha's Immanuel Medical Center is a state resident, said Children and Family Services division director Todd Landry in a statement.
State officials declined to answer questions about the case until Wednesday, when more information could be gathered.
On Monday evening, a 15-year-old girl from Nebraska was left at Creighton University Medical Center. She has been placed in a residential shelter while authorities continue to investigate her case, Landry said.
Nebraska's safe-haven law, which took effect in July, is the only one in the country that lets caregivers leave children as old as 18 at a state-licensed hospital without fear of prosecution. The youngest child abandoned so far was only a year old; 12 of the 22 were teenagers. Three children were from other states, including Iowa, Michigan and Georgia.
Lancaster County officials said Tuesday that the boy from Georgia will be turned over to a child protective worker in Cobb County, Ga., to return to his home state and to attend a court hearing Wednesday. The boy will remain in Georgia custody at least until a judge decides who should take care of him.
Nebraska's law was intended to protect infants, but it did not define "child" in its wording. Most state lawmakers have agreed to amend the law when the Legislature reconvenes in January so that it applies only to infants up to 3 days old.
Associated Press Writer Jean Ortiz in Omaha contributed to this report.
Neb. parents rush to leave kids before law changes
from: google.com
By NATE JENKINS – 19 hours ago
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The mother was running out of more than patience when she abandoned her 18-year-old daughter at a hospital over the weekend under Nebraska's safe-haven law. She was also running out of time: She knew that state lawmakers would soon meet in a special session to amend the ill-fated law so that it would apply to newborns only.
"Where am I going to get help if they change the law?" said the mother, who lives in Lincoln and asked to not be identified by name to protect her adopted child.
To the state's surprise and embarrassment, more than half of the 33 children legally abandoned under the safe-haven law since it took effect in mid-July have been teenagers.
But state officials may have inadvertently made things worse with their hesitant response to the problem: The number of drop-offs has almost tripled to about three a week since Gov. Dave Heineman announced on Oct. 29 that lawmakers would rewrite the law.
With legislators set to convene on Friday, weary parents like the Lincoln mother have been racing to drop off their children while they still can.
On Thursday, authorities searched for a 17-year-old girl who fled an Omaha hospital as her mother tried to abandon her. Her 14-year-old brother was taken into state custody, health officials said.
Child welfare experts said the late deluge of drop-offs was probably inevitable. After all, they said, some date had to be picked to begin changing the law.
But some of them said lawmakers and the governor missed chances to change the law early because they underestimated the number of desperate families looking for help. Heineman called the special session only after a spate of five drop-offs in eight days.
Reluctance to pull senators away from their jobs and election campaigns, along with the estimated $70,000 to $80,000 cost of a special session, were among the reasons Heineman's office cited in holding off on calling a special session sooner.
"I think there was a fair amount of denial on the part of legislators that it would snowball," said Karen Authier, executive director of the Nebraska Children's Home Society.
The safe-haven law was intended to save "Dumpster babies" by allowing desperate young mothers to abandon their newborns at a hospital without fear of prosecution. But lawmakers could not agree on an age limit, and the law as passed uses only the word "child."
All states have safe-haven laws, but in every state but Nebraska, the law applies to infants only.
Authier said her group and others had warned senators after the law passed early this year that there could be problems, but the lawmakers did not believe it.
"It wasn't like talking to a stone wall," Authier said. "It was just that people who aren't in the business of dealing with families, they aren't aware how desperate some of these families are."
Sure enough, 20 teenagers — six 17-year-olds, two 16-year-olds, six 15-year-olds, three 14-year-olds, three 13-year-olds — have been abandoned, along with eight children who were 11 or 12. Five of the children dropped off have been from out of state.
The Lincoln mother who dropped off her 18-year-old daughter said she was repeatedly turned down when she sought help from police, state social services authorities and the girl's school. The woman said her daughter had been diagnosed with a mental illness when she was 12 and had deep psychological scars from childhood abuse and from being left alone with her dead biological mother for a week.
The woman said she felt she had no choice but to leave her daughter at the hospital after a recent flurry of assault, stealing, sleeping around and cutting school.
"I thought she would get help" through the safe-haven law, the mother said.
However, state authorities refused to take the young woman into custody, saying Nebraska law regarding juveniles does not let authorities take in anyone older than 17. The woman left with her daughter.
Fourteen children in all have been left at three hospitals operated by Alegent Health in the Omaha area.
"These are largely families at a point of incredible desperation," said Wayne Sensor, chief executive of Alegent Health. "They aren't bad parents or bad kids. They simply don't know what services are available out there."