9 Children Abandoned Under New Nebraska Safe Haven Law
Posted by Jane Akre, InjuryBoard.com
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.