LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska lawmakers are proposing an age limit of 30 days for children who might be legally abandoned under the state’s safe haven law.
The proposal, advanced Monday by a legislative committee, is designed to stop a rash of drop-offs of older children, including teens, at hospitals. It will be debated by the full one-house Legislature today.
Nebraska is the only state with a safe haven law that doesn’t set an age limit.
Approximately 120 people jammed into a Capitol hearing room Monday as legislators considered changing the open-ended safe haven law. Many said an age cap was secondary to what the law has illustrated: A ragged safety net for troubled children that needs to be mended soon.
State officials disagreed with child welfare experts and others who criticized what they said was a lack of access to mental health and other services. They added that some parents are unnecessarily abandoning their children at hospitals.
Since September, 34 children have been dropped off. Five of them have been from out of state.
