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| -Short Attention Span Theater- | ||
| 2nd out-of-state teen dropped at Omaha hospital | ||
| 2008-10-14 | ||
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.
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| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #6 You'd be wrong, Jim. Older children languish in foster home and are rarely adopted. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2008-10-14 15:59 |
| #5 Actually Anon - I think you would be in *bigger* trouble (at least here in WA state) for drowning kittens. Hard as it is sometimes the kids are better off with the state then being neglected and abused (at least psychologically) by their own parents. Child Protective Services often has to walk a tightrope between leaving the child in danger and removing the child needlessly. Also heard on the news this morning of a 14 year old girl who weights a whopping 48 lbs: During the investigation, investigators said they found the girl's mother restricted her water intake to about half of a small Dixie cup per day. The mother only let the girl shower every two or three weeks, and watched her during each shower and bathroom break to keep the girl from surreptitiously drinking water, Urquhart said. OTOH you hear about the parent who nearly lost their son to CPS because they fell at school and scraped their face and then someone at the grocery store turned them in for 'abuse' (look at his bruises! Must be abuse!) - lucky for them the school had documented the fall and scrape. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2008-10-14 11:19 |
| #4 Can't they just drown them? Works pretty good with kittens. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2008-10-14 10:56 |
| #3 I can't imagine anything more dangerous to a child than MAKING a mother keep it when she doesnt want it. I'm sure there are plenty of fine people in Nebraska that are eager to adopt. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-10-14 09:37 |
| #2 Wait till the Mexicans hear about this law. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-10-14 01:39 |
| #1 Actually, what Nebraska has done is let the chickens come home to roost. States have made it a felony crime to hit your children but sometimes, particularly with young teen males, that's almost the only way to get the message across. Okay, if the state is going to limit the power of parents to deal with their parenting problems, the state should now have to show how much better it can handle those problems. Nebraska is stepping up to the plate to do so. Let's see how well it works. |
| Posted by: Jolutch Mussolini7800 2008-10-14 00:32 |