Nebraska Parents Abandon 11 Kids under Safe Haven Law
Nebraska's safe haven law was intended to protect abandoned infants at hospitals, but parents are dumping their older children instead.
By Anastacia Mott Austin
If it didn't involve real people's lives, it might be a little bit funny. How many parents of unruly teens may have thought of just walking away one day, dumping their kids on someone else to deal with? ("Every day," I can hear those parents now.)
Except that it's really happening to children, and the situations that must have prompted their parents to abandon them cannot be humorous in the least.
Nebraska enacted a "safe haven" law, like most other states, in order to save the lives of newborns. Too many teen mothers had been abandoning their infants in dumpsters and other unthinkable places for fear of arrest. States' laws exempting parents from prosecution if they left their babies at safe places like hospitals have had a positive effect all across the nation.
But lawmakers in Nebraska, after quibbling over language about the age of the child, worded their law in such a way that it could be interpreted that any child up to the age of 18 could be left in a "safe haven" location without parental repercussions.
And parents are responding. Since the law was enacted in July, 16 children have been abandoned at hospitals. But this week 11 children, from age 1 to 17, were left by their fathers in hospital emergency rooms. Nine of them were siblings.
The father of the nine children brought them to the Creighton University Medical Center's emergency room. Identified as Gary Staton, reporters asked him why he had decided to abandon his children. After explaining that his wife had died of a brain aneurysm after giving birth to their youngest child, the father said he just couldn't handle the responsibility anymore. "We raised them together. I didn't think I could do it alone. I fell apart. I couldn't take care of them."
Staton added that he had lost his job and couldn't afford to take care of the children. "I was able to get the kids to a safe place before they were homeless," said Staton. "I hope they know I love them."
Two other boys, age 11 and 13, were also dropped off separately at another hospital this week.
Nebraska's state director of Children and Family Services, Todd Landry, spoke with reporters at a press conference this week in Lincoln. "It was the parents not wanting to continue the journey with their kids," said Landry of the recent cases.
Of the 11 children, most were placed into temporary foster care until their case can be further investigated. One of the boys not related to the siblings remained at the hospital for evaluation.
Nebraska's governor David Heineman has said he would recommend changes to the law that specifies that the abandoned child must be an infant, to avoid the recent scenarios that have been occurring. However, the state legislature is not due to meet on the issue until January. A representative of the governor's office told reporters that rather than calling a special session to review the language of the law, the state would be pursuing parent education to help parents having problems with their children turn to alternatives other than abandoning them.
Todd Landry says that the wording of the law may be misleading some parents, because in each case investigators will review the situation and follow-up with both the parents and the children. The Staton case will be investigated to determine if there is other recourse for the family to stay together with their father.
"I am very concerned about the situations we've seen so far," said Landry to reporters. "I empathize with parents who aren't sure where to turn, but I want to encourage those families to use other options before taking the drastic step of abandoning a child."
Added Landry, "It's important to recognize the potential trauma abandonment can cause for children of all ages."
If it didn't involve real people's lives, it might be a little bit funny. How many parents of unruly teens may have thought of just walking away one day, dumping their kids on someone else to deal with? ("Every day," I can hear those parents now.)
Except that it's really happening to children, and the situations that must have prompted their parents to abandon them cannot be humorous in the least.
Nebraska enacted a "safe haven" law, like most other states, in order to save the lives of newborns. Too many teen mothers had been abandoning their infants in dumpsters and other unthinkable places for fear of arrest. States' laws exempting parents from prosecution if they left their babies at safe places like hospitals have had a positive effect all across the nation.
But lawmakers in Nebraska, after quibbling over language about the age of the child, worded their law in such a way that it could be interpreted that any child up to the age of 18 could be left in a "safe haven" location without parental repercussions.
And parents are responding. Since the law was enacted in July, 16 children have been abandoned at hospitals. But this week 11 children, from age 1 to 17, were left by their fathers in hospital emergency rooms. Nine of them were siblings.
The father of the nine children brought them to the Creighton University Medical Center's emergency room. Identified as Gary Staton, reporters asked him why he had decided to abandon his children. After explaining that his wife had died of a brain aneurysm after giving birth to their youngest child, the father said he just couldn't handle the responsibility anymore. "We raised them together. I didn't think I could do it alone. I fell apart. I couldn't take care of them."
Staton added that he had lost his job and couldn't afford to take care of the children. "I was able to get the kids to a safe place before they were homeless," said Staton. "I hope they know I love them."
Two other boys, age 11 and 13, were also dropped off separately at another hospital this week.
Nebraska's state director of Children and Family Services, Todd Landry, spoke with reporters at a press conference this week in Lincoln. "It was the parents not wanting to continue the journey with their kids," said Landry of the recent cases.
Of the 11 children, most were placed into temporary foster care until their case can be further investigated. One of the boys not related to the siblings remained at the hospital for evaluation.
Nebraska's governor David Heineman has said he would recommend changes to the law that specifies that the abandoned child must be an infant, to avoid the recent scenarios that have been occurring. However, the state legislature is not due to meet on the issue until January. A representative of the governor's office told reporters that rather than calling a special session to review the language of the law, the state would be pursuing parent education to help parents having problems with their children turn to alternatives other than abandoning them.
Todd Landry says that the wording of the law may be misleading some parents, because in each case investigators will review the situation and follow-up with both the parents and the children. The Staton case will be investigated to determine if there is other recourse for the family to stay together with their father.
"I am very concerned about the situations we've seen so far," said Landry to reporters. "I empathize with parents who aren't sure where to turn, but I want to encourage those families to use other options before taking the drastic step of abandoning a child."
Added Landry, "It's important to recognize the potential trauma abandonment can cause for children of all ages."
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