OMAHA, Neb.—A 17-year-old boy left by his mother at an Omaha hospital on Monday is the 30th child left under provisions of Nebraska’s safe-haven law, state authorities said.
Todd Landry, director of children and family services for the Department of Health and Human Services, said the boy is from Douglas County, which includes Omaha. The boy was left Monday morning at Creighton University Medical Center.
The state was still investigating the case, he said, but more details were not available.
Landry also said in a news release that the drop-off of an 18-year-old woman at a Lincoln hospital Sunday night was not being handled as a safe-haven case.
Health and Human Services spokeswoman Jeanne Atkinson said state law pertaining to juveniles won’t let authorities take in children older than 17.
Her department is not keeping track of the number of 18-year-olds dropped at hospitals, she said, because of the confusion over Nebraska’s law and its lack of a specific age limit.
Because of that confusion, Atkinson said, someone could have dropped off an 18-year-old who wasn’t reported to the department because the department would have been barred from taking custody in any event.
Assistant Chief Jim Peschong of the Lincoln Police Department said the young woman’s adoptive mother told officials at BryanLGH Medical Center West that her daughter suffers from several disorders.
“The adoptive mother says that the daughter refused to take some medication for some conditions that she has,” Peschong said. “She won’t listen to her, can’t control her.”
According to Peschong, the mother said her daughter is bipolar and has a learning disability.
Atkinson said the daughter has been placed in an emergency shelter contracted by the state and that she was being offered extra help.
Nebraska was the last state to enact a safe-haven law, which is intended to protect unwanted newborns from being abandoned.
Some have interpreted the law to mean that children as old as 18 could be abandoned.
That’s because the law uses the word “child” and doesn’t include any age limit. So some have taken the word “child” in the law to mean “minor.” In Nebraska, that includes anyone under the age of 19. Others have taken the common-law definition, which includes those under age 14.
The Legislature opens a special session on Friday to fix the law.
An 11-year-old girl left by her mother at an Omaha hospital Friday was the 29th child abandoned under the safe-haven law.
Four children from out of state were among the 30 abandoned at Nebraska hospitals. All four have been returned to their states, including an 8-year-old Indiana boy who was flown back on Friday to be turned over to Indiana authorities.
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Associated Press Writer Melanie Welte in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.
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On the Net:
DHHS’ safe-haven page:
