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mizznicole
Guest
Have y’all been following what’s happening in Nebraska? All those kids being abandoned? It makes me so sad. Thank God they are alive. Yet look at the coldness of our hearts…
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Feanaro_s_Wife
Guest
I have no idea of what you are talking about in regards to nebraska (could you brief us?) but I just finished a novel that included “safe haven” as part of the plot. Weird coincidence…
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1ke
Guest
Nebraska passed a safe haven law in July. This is like other states where people can abandon babies at a hospital with no questions asked. But, unlike other laws Nebraska didn’t specify an age limit in theirs and so they’ve had 34 drop offs since the law passed and 20 of them have been teenagers.
Can you imagine being that older child??? It’s horrible. But, at least they are safe.
Nebraska is now debating a revision in the law and trying to settle on an age limit:
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7728942.stm
I don’t know if Canada has had a similar problem in the past, but the safe haven laws originate out of concern for babies being left in dumpsters and such. There were many such cases where babies were found abandoned but had died of exposure, etc, so states started designating hospitals (and in some cases fire stations and police stations) as “safe havens”. A woman could give her baby away there with no questions asked and no charges of abandonment.
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Pro-Life_Teen
Guest
The Safe Haven Law in Nebraska, that’s supposed to protect newborns, allows for all children to be left at hospitals- it doesn’t have a specific age set. Therefore it allows any child under the age of 19 it seems to be left at a hospital without the parent being prosecuted. It’s a loophole that people are actually using- even a few out of state parents are driving their kids to Nebraska and leaving them there.
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081113/ap_on_re_us/safe_haven
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Feanaro_s_Wife
Guest
Wow! Teenagers??? That is crazy:nope:
**From my limited knowledge I knew it was for babies/newborns so they wouldn’t be left in an unsafe place or left to die… I can’t believe they didn’t think to put an age limit. I actually can’t believe there NEEDS to be an age limit.
Our world is so full of hurt and evil.
I can’t imagine how the faithless deal with it. At least we know this is temporary, and very short compared to all eternity.**
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kage_ar
Guest
I would rather the law encompass all children rather than let a child be abused/neglected because they were “too old”.
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1ke
Guest
There are other ways parents can give up their parental rights and place older children in foster care or up for adoption.
Doing a drive by at the hospital and putting them out of the car with the clothes on their back isn’t the way.
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OSUbride0708
Guest
After reading all of the stories of babies being left in dumpsters or in bathroom trash cans at school proms, I can’t help but think this was a great thing. It has probably helped save a lot of babies.
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noclevername
Guest
A woman drove from Atlanta, GA to Nebraska to drop off her teenage son. For those of you not in the US, it’s about 1500 miles away. A two or three day drive.
But I do favor the law. Hopefully it will save at least one child from child abuse.
But I do favor the law. Hopefully it will save at least one child from child abuse.
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faithfulone
Guest
gas for a cross country car trip - $100
accommodations for cross country trip - $200
food for cross country car trip - $200
Being able to return to your home without a nasty and rude teenager-- PRICELESS
accommodations for cross country trip - $200
food for cross country car trip - $200
Being able to return to your home without a nasty and rude teenager-- PRICELESS
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OutinChgoburbs
Guest
Having raised a schizophrenic son, I’ve had contact with other parents who’ve been pushed to dire straits. I can tell you there is nothing like trying to live a normal life while:
- Keeping anything sharp under lock and key.
- Counting the tableware every night to make sure it’s all back- or locking up the tableware and switching to paper plates, plastic cups, forks, knives and spoons.
- Pulling Cheerios out of the furnace.
- Keeping a 24/7 tab on a 16 or 17 year old.
- Making sure somebody doesn’t slip his or her medication to the poor cat.
- Sleeping in shifts so the one with problems can be watched at all hours, so nobody in the family gets harmed or worse.
The authorities look at a parent who has gotten to the end of his or her rope with such a child and tell such a parent, “Oh, they’ll be 18 in a couple years, and then you can dump their stuff on the front lawn and change the locks.” In some states, and Illinois is one of them, after a child turns 12, he or she does not have to take prescribed medication if he or she chooses not to do so. DCFS does a complete investigation of every child in the family if one is given up, even if that child is 17 1/2. It is treated as child abandonment and neglect until a court says otherwise. DCFS tries to make the parents take back the offending teenager even if it’s at the safety of the other people who live in the house. The case worker (who does not have to have any qualification other than a bachelor degree of any type) often shows up unannounced with the teen and tries to get the parent to let the teen back in the house.
It takes a really good lawyer who is well-versed in such matters, an excellent psychologist who has a reputation for honesty, and all the records of police incidents, hospitalizations, etc., to finally get DCFS to admit that maybe there is a problem. And all that takes money. My DH and I had that, with sacrifice, when our son finally became too much to handle, when we couldn’t take the holes punched in the walls and the food thrown into the holes to “feed the house” because some entity none of the rest of of saw told him to do it.
So, if a parent is down to the end of their rope, and has no money- what then? The only choice in my opinion, as cruel as it might seem to some people, is a safe haven law for ALL kids. And it isn’t a drive-by with just the clothes on their backs, from what I’ve seen. The parent has to escort the teen into the ER, tell the problem, and sign papers.
Or thrown out on the street to fend for themselves.
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Sierrah
Guest
My thoughts exactly. In one case I know of the mother died and the dad just couldn’t feed his kids anymore so he thought the best thing he could do for them was to give them up. I don’t about the rest of the cases. But I would rather see them left on the hospital doorstep then roaming the streets homeless or being found dead perhaps.
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mizznicole
Guest
Sorry, I think the parents also need some level of scrutiny…not for a baby less than a week old (as the Florida law states). But if you’re dumping your kid, there ought to be an examination of child abuse/neglect. My .02.
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