It seems that Nebraska is the only one out of the 50 states where there aren’t any age limits on how old the child is able to be in order to be left at a hospital without the guardian being prosecuted.

Safe haven laws were put into effect with the thoughts of scared teenage mothers dropping their kids off at a bus stop or doing worse. It didn’t occur to many that there is a population of parents or caregivers that have situations that would leave children of all ages (especially teenagers) at risk of abandonment when there isn’t any family or others willing to help out or take over. To my understanding, child welfare and government services only are able to take control if a child is in immediate danger or there is abuse involved.

So since some children that were well above infant age were dropped off in Nebraska, there has been talk to modify the law. However, is this going to solve the problem of there being parents out there who are unable or unwilling to care for children, regardless of their age? Are there other laws or resources put into place to protect parents from feeling helpless and children of all ages being in potentially unhealthy living situations? Or will the responsibility continue to fall solely on the parent, regardless of life circumstance? When will we stop judging parents so harshly and start helping find better solutions for raising future generations?

I know that there are organizations out there that are helping, but I’m sure they are limited. More importantly, how many parents know of them or are willing to ask for help if they need it?

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