November 24, 2008
Dear Fellow Nebraskans:
The first special legislative session in more than five years ended last week with the signing of LB 1. The bill amended Nebraska’s “safe haven” law to apply to babies up to 30 days old, instead of children up to age 17
The original law has had serious unintended consequences. While I hoped a special session would not be necessary, it was clear from the number of older children left at Nebraska hospitals in the past two months that we needed to act. I appreciate the time and energy state senators gave to discussing this issue.
Protecting infants from an unsafe abandonment is the goal of “safe haven” laws. These laws are intended to give young mothers a safe way to surrender a newborn they feel unable to care for. Forty-two states limit protection to infants ranging from three days old to thirty days old. Nebraska’s law contained no such limit and children ranging from nearly two years old to 17 were left at hospitals.
In the last two months, a total of 36 children were left at hospitals. Several cases involved children brought here from states as far away as California and Florida.
When it was clear that older children were continuing to be left at our hospitals, I called the Legislature into a special session. I asked state senators to change the law by refocusing on providing young mothers an alternative to abandoning a newborn in a dumpster or river ravine, as had happened in our state during the past decade.
Revising the law to create a “baby safe haven” in Nebraska does two things. First, it puts the focus back on the original intent of these laws, which is saving newborn babies and exempting a parent from prosecution for child abandonment. It should also prevent those outside the state from bringing their children to Nebraska in an attempt to secure services. Both were important issues that needed to be addressed.
While I know many parents sought help using the original “safe haven” law because they felt they had no choice, there are ways for families in need to reach out for help. Leaving a child at a hospital with limited information about their medical history and the challenges they face is not in the best interest of any young person. For those children with behavioral and mental health issues, parents and families play an important role in stabilizing a young person in crisis, as well as their rehabilitation and recovery. That is why we encourage parents and guardians facing these challenges to work with the appropriate officials and organizations to secure help.
We want to assist these families. The Nebraska United Way’s 2-1-1 hotline or a local Health and Human Services office are available to provide information and referrals for services. More information on resources for families is available on the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Web site at http://www.dhhs.ne.gov or http://www.dhhs.ne.gov/Children_Family_Services/SafeHaven/. In an emergency, hospitals play an important role in providing the acute care someone in crisis needs. Our focus now turns to studying the range of services available to older children to determine what could be done to help them and their families.
