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2nd out-of-state teen dropped at Omaha hospital
A Michigan mother drove roughly 12 hours to Omaha, so she could abandon her 13-year-old son at a hospital under the state's unique safe-haven law, Nebraska officials said Monday.
"I certainly recognize and can commiserate and empathize with families across our state and across the country who are obviously struggling with parenting issues, but this is not the appropriate way of dealing with them, whether you're in Nebraska or whether you're in another state," said Todd Landry, who heads the state's Department of Health and Human Services' division of children and family services. There was no sign the boy was in immediate danger before he was abandoned early Monday, but an investigation into the boy's situation was still continuing, Landry said. The boy has been placed in an emergency shelter. Landry said the family doesn't appear to have ties to Nebraska and he wasn't sure if the family had sought help in Michigan first. State officials have met with the boy's mother, Landry said but wouldn't immediately address her reasons for leaving her son. He said he believed the boy's parents were married but wasn't sure if the father agreed to the decision. "Regardless of why or how, our focus remains on the safety of the child," he said. If a parent believes that they can no longer support a child, or that the child is at risk by remaining with them, and they have the foresight to give the child to someone who can care for them, then they are probably right. As sad as it sounds, the State will probably take better care of the child.
Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-10-14 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=252651 |