Nebraska law allows abandonment of teens

CrzyMeg said:
I am constantly concern though. But what your point? Some do need professonial others might meet victims to help go through whatever they are going through.
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My point is that it is less destructive to endure one trauma of being abandoned than it is to endure the repeated trauma of ongoing abuse.
 
jillio said:
But before you had anything to tell police, you had already been abused. Your story has a happy ending. You had family willing to take responsibility for you. Most abused children are not that lucky. We have hospitals full of teens who have been so horribly abused that they have become self mutilators just to survive. And for every one that is hospitalized, we have 10 more that are out there.
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That's really sad. I knew this girl who was sexually abused by her father when she was younger. Now she is a hardcore self mutilator, she cuts everywhere and anywhere. She will even burn herself with cigarettes. She's been in and out of the state hospital for all of her adult life. She's not even med compliant. She even neglects her diabetic needs. She even attempted to commit suicide at my apartment when she was sleeping over. Luckily she made it, but ended up in the state hospital for about 3 months for that.
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
That's really sad. I knew this girl who was sexually abused by her father when she was younger. Now she is a hardcore self mutilator, she cuts everywhere and anywhere. She will even burn herself with cigarettes. She's been in and out of the state hospital for all of her adult life. She's not even med compliant. She even neglects her diabetic needs. She even attempted to commit suicide at my apartment when she was sleeping over. Luckily she made it, but ended up in the state hospital for about 3 months for that.
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It is a very sad situation, Lucia. Dealing with self mutilators makes me incredibly sad. The majority are very intelligent, personable, and extremely creative people who have been put in situations so devasting that they have to dissociate to the degree taht the only way they can feel anything is to self harm.
 
I haven't thought about the issue enough to have a personal opinion. However, one of the problems with safe haven laws I've heard is that child abandonment is presented as an easy option without any required counseling or an explanation of alternatives, such as a well-planned adoption.

I think this is a valid concern since, in many child abandonment cases, these girls are very young and emotionally fractured. They often come from broken homes and/or bad relationships. The decision to abandon the child may be made hastily without much thought or support from others. Especially in these cases, a decision to abandon their child shouldn't be made without some counseling with a trained professional.

I should also mention that I am from Texas. Even with the safe haven laws here, babies are still being abandoned in dumpsters. While safe haven laws may be the "feel good" solution, their effectiveness still hasn't been established.

As some practical advice from a person who argues for a living, one major problem with your argument is that you automatically assume safe haven laws are effective. You bash other arguments without ever establishing whether safe haven laws are even effective for your purpose. I think your argument would be much stronger if you were also able to prove the effectiveness of safe haven laws in the states where they have been passed (e.g., with some statistics).
 
jillio said:
But before you had anything to tell police, you had already been abused. Your story has a happy ending. You had family willing to take responsibility for you. Most abused children are not that lucky. We have hospitals full of teens who have been so horribly abused that they have become self mutilators just to survive. And for every one that is hospitalized, we have 10 more that are out there.
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That's right. Many times abuse goes unreported, of it reported, the caseworker drops the ball, and the kid continues on in the situation. Eventually, these kids grow up. Sometimes, there is a happy ending. However, many times, there isn't and the child grows up and suffers irreparable psychological and emotional damage.
 
Oceanbreeze said:
That's right. Many times abuse goes unreported, of it reported, the caseworker drops the ball, and the kid continues on in the situation. Eventually, these kids grow up. Sometimes, there is a happy ending. However, many times, there isn't and the child grows up and suffers irreparable psychological and emotional damage.
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And spends a miserable lifetime trying to overcome it. **sigh**
 
Update: Neb. fears more child abandonments

OMAHA, Neb. - More than a dozen children have been abandoned under Nebraska's unique safe-haven law, which allows children as old as 18 to be abandoned without fear of prosecution. But the case of a 14-year-old girl from Iowa has stoked fears of an influx of unwanted out-of-state children.

The law, which took effect in July, permits caregivers to leave children at hospitals. Like similar laws in other states, it was intended to protect infants. But the Nebraska law was written to include the word "child," without setting an age limit.

Some have taken the word "child" in the law to mean "minor," which in Nebraska includes anyone under the age of 19. Others have taken the common law definition, which includes those under age 14.

And the law doesn't preclude people from out of state from leaving their children in Nebraska, which leaves some uncertainty about its current reach.

"It really concerns me that (people from) other states are possibly going to be leaving their children here," said state Sen. Arnie Stuthman, who introduced the bill that was the basis for the safe-haven law.

17 children abandoned so far
Thus far, 17 children have been abandoned under the safe-haven law, including nine from a single family. A 14-year-old girl from Council Bluffs, Iowa, was left at a hospital across the Missouri River in Omaha late Tuesday.

Nebraska lawmakers aren't scheduled to convene again until January, but they already are re-examining the law they passed in the spring.

Gov. Dave Heineman has not ruled out calling a rare special session of the Legislature to fix the law, but he has been reluctant to do so.

"The governor remains hopeful that a special session won't be needed, but this issue must be addressed immediately at the beginning of the next session," Heineman's spokeswoman Jen Rae Hein said Wednesday.

Jeanne Atkinson, a spokeswoman for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, said that despite the safe-haven law, the state could seek to press other charges, including child neglect charges, against those that abandon children.

State Sen. Mike Flood, speaker of the Legislature, said he hasn't heard of any senators calling for a special session. But he said when the law is revised, he would like to see it pertain only to Nebraska residents, although he didn't say how that might be accomplished.

Abandonments expected to climb
The number of children left will continue to climb, including the possibility of seeing children left by desperate parents pushed to the brink by the souring economy, said child advocate Kathy Bigsby Moore. She pointed to research that links economic stress and other risk factors for children.

"My main hope is that this Iowa case doesn't distract policy-makers from the real issue, which is that Nebraska children and families need an avenue for obtaining services and respite for very difficult family situations," said Moore, executive director of Voices for Children in Nebraska.

Todd Landry, director of Nebraska's Division of Children and Family Services, said the safe-haven law's legal protections might not prevent prosecution in the case of the Iowa girl. Whoever abandoned the 14-year-old might be prosecuted in Iowa if a different law, such as child neglect, could be applied to the situation.

An investigation continues, Landry said Wednesday. He declined to offer details, including who left the child and under what circumstances.
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Neb. fears more child abandonments - Life - MSNBC.com
 
^^ Well, I think each state should have their own " safe-haven " place for children, if their parents couldn't take care of them for some reasons.
 
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