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Old 09-15-2008, 02:35 PM   #1 (permalink)
snowy
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2 boys left at Neb. hospitals under haven law: can parents quit?

Forgive the somewhat awkward titling of the thread, but once you read the article, you'll see where this is going:

Quote:
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two boys ages 15 and 11 were left at Nebraska hospitals over the weekend, the first youngsters surrendered under the state's new safe-haven law that allows caregivers to abandon children and teens as well as infants, officials said.

A 44-year-old woman dropped off her teenage nephew at Lincoln's BryanLGH Medical Center West on Saturday, saying the boy had behavioral problems that she couldn't handle anymore, Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady said. The woman is the boy's legal guardian.

The other boy was left at Immanuel Medical Center in Omaha on Saturday, said Alegent Health spokeswoman Kelly Grinnell.

The 11-year-old was dropped off by his mother, who said she believed she could no longer care for him, said Todd Landry, who heads the Department of Health and Human Services' division of children and family services.

The two cases are the first uses of the state's safe-haven law, Landry said. Neither case produced suspicion of child abuse or neglect and neither child appeared to be in immediate danger, he said.

"These were two cases where the caregiver or parent decided the behavior issues were such they felt they could no longer provide good parenting skills," Landry said.

The 11-year-old remained in an Omaha hospital for evaluation and observation Monday, he said. The 15-year-old was temporarily placed in an emergency shelter in Lincoln. The county attorneys and the courts will now step in to determine custody.

Nebraska was the last state in the nation to adopt a safe-haven law, which took effect July 18. It allows any caregiver, not just a parent, to leave a child at any state-licensed hospital without fear of prosecution.

Under previous law, a parent who abandoned a baby could have been charged with child neglect or abandonment, both misdemeanors, or child abuse, a felony.

Most other states have focused their laws on protecting infants.

State Sen. Arnie Stuthman said he introduced the bill intending to protect infants. In a compromise with senators worried about arbitrary age limits, the measure was expanded to include the word "child."

The law doesn't further define child, and some have interpreted that to mean anyone in Nebraska under the age of 19. Others have taken the common law meaning of child — those under age 14.

Stuthman's bill was signed into law as a way of protecting children from immediate danger or harm, said Landry, who didn't believe the two cases Saturday carried that sense of urgency.

Stuthman said Monday that he was surprised that two older children were abandoned on the same day. He said the cases didn't meet the intent of his bill, but he said they will open lawmakers' eyes as to the issues affecting children and families.

"I clearly do not believe this was the intent of LB157," he said.

Stuthman and others have said they are open to revisiting the legislation.
from: The Associated Press: 2 boys left at Neb. hospitals under 'haven' law

I understand the intent of haven laws as they apply to infants, and I can see how this legislation was extended to include "children", but my question is this--do haven laws such as this in Nebraska allow parents to quit being parents? I use the term parent here to mean someone who is responsible for the well-being and raising of a child, whether it's their biological child or not.

Obviously, there are situations where we wouldn't want the child to be left in a bad situation, or a potentially bad situation, and situations where parents do more harm than good, but at what point do haven laws become cop-outs on the part of a parent? How do we judge whether or not a parent gave their all in a given situation?

Personally, I think there are other forms of recourse in both of the situations presented in the article. There are support systems in place, be they government organizations or NGOs that offer support and help for parents in need of assistance in dealing with children with behavioral issues. I do think just dropping off your teenager because he's "too hard to parent" is a cop-out. Being a parent is a tough job, and it seems to me that too many people have children and then have unrealistic expectations of just how difficult a job it is. This legislation needs to provide more hoops for parents to jump through should they wish to drop off their older child--like required parenting classes paid for by the state. Paying for such classes would certainly be cheaper than having to put the child in state care. I find this case in Nebraska absolutely mind-boggling.
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