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I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so.
About three weeks ago I blogged about the new Safe Haven law that Nebraska instituted allowing parents to leave a child up to the age of 19 without fear of prosecution. Well, it has already happened. Not once, but twice in the same day.
Two boys, ages 11 and 15 were left at two different medical centers. The boys are not related it just happened that these occurred on the same day. One boy was dropped off by his mother and the other boy by his aunt who is his legal guardian. The new law does allow for this. The person relinquishing the child does not have to be the parent.
The report in the Washington Times says that one boy had behavioral problems and the other boy’s mother said she was unable to care for him.
Here is a direct quote from my blog three weeks ago:
Can you picture the mother or father who is fed up with their snarky, rebellious, fourteen year old child dropping them off at a hospital and giving up custody?
How is that me, just a mom from a small town in Wisconsin can figure out that this going to happen, but legislators with college degrees cannot? Maybe I should run for political office.
The legislators contend that this was not their intent when they drafted the law, but what did they think was going to happen? They left a giant hole that a reasonable person could spot a mile away. At least I think I’m a reasonable person.
I am glad that these children were not harmed and that the parent or guardian took this route rather than harming the child, but certainly there had to be better ways to get services for these boys. If there aren’t, maybe the legislators should be looking at ways to help parents get services so they don’t feel that they have to take such desperate measures.
Most of the time I don’t mind being right, but this time I wish I hadn’t been.
So then, what WAS the intent of the law…why else would anyone drop off a teenager. This speaks to the sorry state of mental health services for adolescence in this country. Some parents have tried everything and don’t know what else to do in order to get services for their ill children
The intent of the law was for parents to be able to relinquish infants, but the legislators left the terminology to broad to just say “a child” which leaves a giant loop hole.
These boys must be feeling really
good about themselves today.
I wonder if they feel safe now?
This could have been the only way to get help for the boys.