KSUFans Archives
Fan Life => The Endzone Dive => Topic started by: ednksu on September 25, 2008, 12:29:45 PM
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OMAHA, Neb. — Nine children were left at a hospital by their father late Wednesday under the state's new safe haven law, a move officials say illustrates the problems many feared when the rule went into effect.
The father, who was not identified, left the children aged 1 to 17 at Creighton University Medical Center's emergency room.
The law, which went into effect in July, allows caregivers to abandon children at any state-licensed hospital without fear of prosecution. It was initially intended to protect infants — like similar laws in other states — but was amended to include children and teenagers.
At least four children between the ages of 11 and 15 have been abandoned by parents since the law took effect.
The nine youngsters surrendered Wednesday are OK, said Kathie Osterman, a spokeswoman for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. She didn't know how many were boys or girls, or why their father left them.
More information will be available at a late morning news conference, Osterman said.
Nebraska was the last state in the nation to adopt a safe-haven law. 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.
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.
Abandoning teenagers was not the original intent of the law, Stuthman said Thursday.
"People are leaving them off just because they can't control them," he said. "They're probably in no real danger, so it's an easy way out for the caretaker."
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Leon should have gone to NU.
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On a serious note, this whole thing sucks here. I work with paroled teenagers and this is just terrible. We had 2 teenagers dropped off at a hospital here in Lincoln. This new law allows crapty parents to drop their kids off and not be cited for abuse/neglect.
From what I have heard, they are looking into changing this immidately. It was suppsoed to be intended for infants (teens that are pregnant and throw their newborns in the dumpster etc.). Sad deal altogether.
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Yeah, has been weird. Like, every morning the lead news story is about some 14 year old kid that got dropped off at the hospital and they pan to the kid and he's flipping off the camera and thinking about getting some smokes. Not really the intent of the law.
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On a serious note, this whole thing sucks here. I work with paroled teenagers and this is just terrible. We had 2 teenagers dropped off at a hospital here in Lincoln. This new law allows crapty parents to drop their kids off and not be cited for abuse/neglect.
From what I have heard, they are looking into changing this immidately. It was suppsoed to be intended for infants (teens that are pregnant and throw their newborns in the dumpster etc.). Sad deal altogether.
you can't litigate good parenting, at least the law may promote crapty parents to drop off their kids and hopefully get them into a foster environment that may/may not be better, assuming that it couldn't get worse.
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Stupid unicameral legislature.
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On a serious note, this whole thing sucks here. I work with paroled teenagers and this is just terrible. We had 2 teenagers dropped off at a hospital here in Lincoln. This new law allows crapty parents to drop their kids off and not be cited for abuse/neglect.
From what I have heard, they are looking into changing this immidately. It was suppsoed to be intended for infants (teens that are pregnant and throw their newborns in the dumpster etc.). Sad deal altogether.
you can't litigate good parenting, at least the law may promote crapty parents to drop off their kids and hopefully get them into a foster environment that may/may not be better, assuming that it couldn't get worse.
QFT. If the parents are crapty rnough to be dropping them off and abandoning them, I think they're likely better off in foster care.
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:frown:
Father drops off 9 children under 'haven' law
BY ANDREW J. NELSON
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Child drop-offs under Nebraska's safe haven law have until now been individual affairs involving individual children. But Wednesday evening at Creighton University Medical Center, a father dropped off nine children, all his. The children ranged in age from 1 to 17 years, said Officer Michael Pecha, an Omaha police spokesman.
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Are they more Mackovickas?
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thanks for killing my good times and bringing up all the bad thoughts I had blocked away. :mad: