Is a Safe Haven Really a Safe Haven, or Could it Cause More Harm?

Okay--this article was taken directly from www.msnbc.com. I put it on this blog spot to hopefully generate some conversation and I would love to hear your opinion on this subject.

Have you all heard about the"Save Haven" law that Nebraska has recently passed?

After reading the article please let me know what you think. Specifically, I'm interesting in hearing if you think the law actually provides a safe haven for unwanted children or if you feel that it just compounds the current problem and the potential problems the children may face.


LINCOLN, Neb. - Nebraska lawmakers on Friday gave final approval to adding a 30-day age limit to the state's safe-haven law.
The original safe-haven law was intended to prevent newborns from being dumped in trash bins or worse. Every state has such a law, but Nebraska's is the only one that lacks an age limit.
Since July, 35 children have been abandoned at state hospitals — many of them preteens or teenagers as old as 17.

Gov. Dave Heineman later signed the bill into law. The age limit will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Saturday and Nebraska will then join 13 other states with a 30-day age cap.
Five of the abandoned children have been from other states, including from as far away as Florida and Michigan.

Lawmakers also vowed to make sure families can get help in a crisis.
Six state senators formed a task force Thursday that promises to hand the Legislature proposals by the time it reconvenes in January.

Over the next 40 days, they'll work with child welfare experts, mental health specialists, hospital officials and others.

'Crisis with older children'"What surfaced was not really what we had intended ... we have a crisis with older children," said Sen. Arnie Stuthman, who introduced the safe-haven bill that was approved earlier this year.

Lawmakers, health officials, child welfare experts and even parents who abandoned their children under the law say it shows a lack of services for families in crisis, and a difficulty in obtaining what services exist.
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State officials disagree. Todd Landry, who oversees child and family services for the state, told a legislative committee earlier this week that some of the children were unnecessarily abandoned and that none was in immediate danger of being harmed.

Sen. Joel Johnson, chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, has said he expects his committee to also make recommendations to the Legislature.

Among Johnson's suggestions is that the state help make up for the lack of psychiatrists by training other professional health care providers to better handle problems brought to light by use of the safe-haven law.