And lastly, Nebraska overhauls its child abandonment law

[gategrrl]

Nebraska changes law on abandonment of children of all ages

Nebraska state lawmakers on Friday overhauled a law that allowed people to abandon their children of any age legally at hospitals, a senator's office confirmed. 

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A new law put the age limit for the so-called safe haven law at 30 days (one month) for a newborn, according to the office of Senator Arnie Stuthman.

The change came in a special session called by Governor Dave Heineman in a 43-5 vote.

The prior safe haven law approved in July was meant to apply to infants but ended up -- because there was no age specified -- allowing parents to abandon many children including teens as old as 17 at area hospitals.

Legislators passed the new bill stating: "no person should be prosecuted for any crime based solely upon the act of leaving a child 30 days old or younger in the custody of an employee on duty at an hospital licensed by the state of Nebraska," an aide to Stuthman said.

Embarrassed by the magnitude of the problem after 34 children -- mostly anonymous -- were handed over to the state, the governor called earlier this month for the state legislature to revise the law and specify an age limit.

On one day in September, 11 children, aged between one and 17 and some from the same family, were abandoned at a Nebraska hospital.

© 2008 AFP

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34 children dropped off at in Nebraska. That's amazing. I'd heard (though haven't confirmed) that some of those parents/guardians drove in from out of state to let the state of Nebraska deal with their children, instead of going through child services in their own states.

Comments

[superbadgirl]

My mother has had to try to help some of her employees (including former ones coming to ask for help) with healthcare paperwork and understanding their own finances, because they just... don't know what to do.

Just last week I had to almost literally handhold a 36-year-old co-worker when the was completing an enrollment form for our new 403(b). Seriously, he wanted me to tell him where to allocate his funds. And I had to tell him three times where to sign (you know, that line that says "signature" below it...).

It's ridiculous how complacent some people are. How does anyone survive in the real world if they can't think for themselves on basic things like this?