Law Blog

Recently Nebraska amended its controversial Safe Haven Law, after it led to alarming consequences reflecting a shortcoming in social services resources.  The law at issue (Legislative Bill 157 or LB 157) permitted parents to leave children up to 17 years old with a state hospital without facing criminal liability.  Since the law went into effect in September 2008, 35 children were abandoned at hospitals across the state:  the majority of them were at least 11 years old, and many of them were afflicted with substantial behavioral conditions.  Furthermore, parents from outside the state traveled to Nebraska to leave their children in the state’s care. 

Nebraska’s amended law, which contains an age limit of 30 days old, now conforms to nationwide norms as well as the purpose behind safe haven laws.  Safe haven laws were enacted to protect young children from immediate danger, not as a way to deal with misbehaving or difficult children.

Questions have been raised as to what will happen to the 35 children who were abandoned during the time when LB 157 was in effect.  Under LB 157, parents cannot be prosecuted for abandonment by leaving their children at a licensed Nebraska hospital; yet, these parents could face other charges and consequences.

For example, if authorities discover that a child was subjected to abuse or neglect before being left with the state, County Attorneys have the choice to file charges.  Additionally, parents who abandoned their children will not be free from all parenting responsibility.  Courts regularly make parents to take parenting classes, participate in therapy, and engage in conflict resolution education – all in an effort to eventually reunite with their children.  Moreover, parents may need to pay child support while their children are in state custody. 

Although Nebraska’s simplest option (a.k.a. LB 157) is no longer available to parents, this is probably a good thing – so long as other resources are offered and made easily accessible.  If not, however, children face the very real prospect of neglect, abuse, or worse.  Some may claim that parents shouldn’t be able to hand off their parental responsibilities to the state, but if social services are not made available, innocent children – and ultimately society at large – suffers.  Therefore, authorities should make parents aware of their options, and not be judgmental when they seek help. 

For now, parents can get state assistance by calling social services, 211, or local United Way organizations.  Parents can also visit their local DHHS office online.  Various resources within the community, including parent support groups, crisis hotlines, faith-based organizations, and treatment centers, can be helpful.  Finally, parents may contact law enforcement after exhausting other options, or if other options are simply not feasible.

Currently, all U.S. states have some type of “safe haven” law.  These laws allow parents or guardians to leave their children in the care of the state by dropping them at a local hospital or police station without fear of criminal prosecution (so long as there has been no abuse).  Nebraska is the only state to adopt a safe haven law without specifying an age limit, and over the three months since the law took effect, 18 young children and teens have been deposited at these facilities.

Safe haven laws were originally enacted to prevent infanticide and to protect very young children, and Nebraska’s law is clearly having unintended effects.  So far, most criticism of the law has focused on how it supposedly allows parents to shirk their responsibilities and how older children will be irreparably damaged by abandonment.  While older children and teens will certainly suffer from being abandoned, and the law should definitely not be used by parents as a “scare tactic,” to control unruly teens, I wonder if society’s outrage is misplaced . . .

In response to public outcry over the law, Governor Dave Heineman and Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood have announced plans to amend the law, and will probably set the age limit at three days old.  Yet, until all of Nebraska’s parents provide safe, loving homes, or the government provides adequate social services for children and teens at risk, children who might be abandoned under the safe haven law may be worse off after it’s amended.

I think that the vast majority of parents would only abandon their children if they saw no other way to properly care for them.  According to Voices for Children, 15% of children in Nebraska were living in poverty and 36% lived in homes considered “low income.”  Parents who simply lack the money or other resources to care for their children should not be condemned for giving up custody for the state.  And parents who recognize that they are abusive toward their children – whatever age they may be – should have an easy way to get their kids to safety.

In 2006, authorities substantiated 3,065 cases of abuse and neglect involving 4,501 Nebraska children, and 17 Nebraska children died as a result of child abuse or homicide.  Hopefully, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and other social service agencies will be able to fill some of the gaps that caused parents to abandon their children in the first place.  If you or a family you know in needs help, please contact the Boys Town National Hotline at 1-800-448-3000, Childhelp USA at 1-800-4-A-CHILD, or visit the Human Services of Nebraska or The Department of Health & Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families.