LINCOLN, Neb., Oct. 20, 2008
Nebraska Rewrites Child Drop-Off Law
Age Limit of 3 Days Imposed After Parents Abandon Older Kids, Teens Under Safe-Haven Statute
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A sign proclaims the Alegent Health Immanuel Medical Center in Omaha, Neb., a "safe haven" in this Aug. 2008 file photo. Lawmakers are revising the state's broadly-written child abandonment law, which has prompted parents to abandon older children and teenagers, not just newborns. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
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Play CBS Video Video Eye On Child Abandonment Law Nebraska became the last of 50 states to adopt a Safe Haven law, which decriminalizes the act of abandoning unwanted infants. But, as Kelly Wallace reports, there is a critical loop hole in this law.
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Video Teens Abandoned Under Neb. Law Parents are using Nebraska's safe haven law to abandon their teenage children, raising serious questions about a law that's applied to babies. Hattie Kauffman reports.
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Interactive Children In Danger Warning signs, state-by-state child services information and a history of child welfare reforms.
Forty of the state Legislature's 49 senators have agreed to amend the law so it only applies to infants up to 3 days old, Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood said during a news conference on Monday. The age cap would change Nebraska's safe-haven law from the most lenient in the country to one of the 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 is the only one in the country that lets anyone leave a child as old as 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 prevent infants from being dumped or abandoned in dangerous places by mothers who don't want them.
The Nebraska law has had "serious, unintended consequences," Heineman said. "This law needs to be changed to focus on infants."
The rash of drop-offs included a child from Iowa and a Michigan child who was driven from there by his mother. The events put Nebraska in the type of national spotlight that makes politicians wince. "Saturday Night Live" poked fun at the state this past weekend.
Asked about the attention, Todd Landry, an official with the state's Department of Health and Human Services, replied: "Decisions we make are based on good public policy, not a 'Saturday Night Live' skit."
Heineman stuck by previous comments that he would prefer not to call a special session to immediately change the law before the regular session starts in January. But he provided a clue about what it would take for him to 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.
In the meantime, 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.
The United Way operates the help line, which can be reached by calling 211. If there is a flood of calls, up to $200,000 in state money could be used to provide more 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, including 211, and Web sites of agencies that can help them if they are having problems with their children.
The letter does not mention that Nebraska has a safe-haven law.
By Associated Press Writer Nate Jenkins
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Add a Comment See all 17 Comments
- I an 54 and I never had children. At 5 my mother dumped me on the town as her 2rd husband demanded her to do so. That was in 59. My life was foster homes. I feel if they dump their child on the state fix the parents so they can''t breed.
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- HEY WELFARE MOTHERS AND FATHERS: Stop making babies you CANNOT afford, mentally cope with and take care of emotionally!
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- I guess that goes along with the "three day right of recission" law... You can cancel a contract within three days.. Hmmmmmm... Good though... It is so sad to hear about kids discarded by their families.
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- I wondered when that state would wake up, I can''t believe they wrote such a dumb law. AS Iread the stories it is to cover newborns not the older kids that their lazy parents don''t want. I can see a safe haven law so young girls too young to young to care for a newborn can take it to place for that. Tool its the software...yep.
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- proper names (Di_ck) are forbidden.
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Posted by ToolMangler at 05:59 PM : Oct 21, 2008
Yeah,,,ridiculous,,ain''t it?
I think CBS needs moderators on here,,that certainly would halt people like oakishpines, and a few others on here. - Reply to this comment
- If the baby was born in a hospital that might mean the parent/s had it at home only one night to decide if they can handle parenthood. The cut off age should be at least twelve months. Shame on Nebraska!
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- I love CBS censors. You can discuss murder, rape, in-cest, s#x, Cannibalism and anything else but you can''t use any of the words George Carlin used without being censored. Even proper names (Di_ck) are forbidden.
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- ''This is why abortion must be legal. All these unwanted children, suffering and living horrible lives because of selfish or ignorant parents.''
Posted by KOMMONCENTS at 06:26 PM : Oct 20, 2008
Just goes to show you, two different people, two different viewpoints. Ya see, I have always figured the ''selfish or ignorant'' ones were the ones who used abortion as a form of ''birth control''. Sheesh, what sophistry. I''m pregnant & I don''t want the baby so in order to prevent it from ''suffering and living horrible lives'' I''m gonna kill it. Horse manure. Just admit you (they) don''t want the baby ''cause (insert whatever BS excuse here) & I''m gonna kill it. Do not cop an attitude about sparing the baby from ''suffering'' and having a ''horrible'' life. Just go on & kill the baby & DO NOT be self righteous about it. - Reply to this comment
- Leave it to a republican majority state to create legislation THAT IS THIS STUPID, and so poorly thought out!!!
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- I just think these legislators are nuts in Nebraska. They obviously didn''t think much about the first law they passed and obviously haven''t though much about the second one. They need to make it up to a year. Many young mothers are overwhelmed in that first year by caring for an infant. When the baby is screaming in the middle of the night and a sixteen year old mother has no where to turn, you get babies in danger. The three day old infant rule will only result in babies at risk.
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- This is why abortion must be legal. All these unwanted children, suffering and living horrible lives because of selfish or ignorant parents.
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- I never had kids but wish to comment. What happens to the four day olds on up. Do they go into the burn barrel along with last weeks news papers? Thats what will happen.
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Posted by lewiston14 at 03:57 PM : Oct 20, 2008
Yup!
I can''t believe the wild swing Nebraska has taken in this.
1st, you could take a 18 yr old in,,,,and anyone else,then,,,,, you can''t take a 4 day old in,,,
***!!!! - Reply to this comment
- Actually, I do believe that some abuse can be avoided by giving the parents who aren''t able to handle their kids a safe, blameless, and simple way to relinquish them before the abuse, born of the frustration, has even started.
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- Mumu-
Do you really think that parents who abuse their children are the types that take them to "safe havens"?
As far as these dropped off teens in Nebraska, it was a case of parents not being able to handle their bad behavior. The man who dropped all 7 of his children was severely depressed after the sudden death of his wife. They hadn''t been abused. And what the former group needed WAS a good ***-whooping. - Reply to this comment
- I never had kids but wish to comment. What happens to the four day olds on up. Do they go into the burn barrel along with last weeks news papers? Thats what will happen.
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- At least 18 children, the youngest 22 months and many of them teens, have been abandoned since the law took effect in July.
It very well could have saved the lives of these kids that were abandoned.
But now,,we''ll have a bunch of killings, and or torture sessions going on now. - Reply to this comment
- That''s nice to know that, from now on, some parents will once again be free to abuse, maim, and/or kill their kids, provided they''re over 3 days old. The only defect of the previous text, was that the parent could abuse it and change their mind anytime. Had they faced being automatically bared from re-contacting the kids they abandoned, they wouldn''t dropped them "to teach them a lesson". Now, children over 3 days old do not have a safe haven from unsafe parents: what a progress.
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