Lessons from Nebraska (Commentary‪)‬

Safe haven laws are designed to save young infants from being abandoned in unsafe public settings such as dumpsters and bathrooms. In July 2008, Nebraska enacted a safe haven law. The law was intended to make it possible for parents to leave newborns at designated sites without fear of prosecution for abandonment. However, unlike other states, Nebraska did not specify an age limit. Parents began dropping of folder children. This was an entirely unintended outcome. By November, 36 children had been left at safe haven sites. Only one was less than five years old. All but four of these children had received mental health services at some time in their young lives (Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). Moreover, many of the parents leaving these children were from other states. Last year, Nebraska amended its safe haven law to limit placement to infants up to the age of 30 days. This amendment returns the law to its intended purpose, but it fails to address the issues that brought parents of older children to the point of abandoning them to Nebraska authorities. Nebraska's experience received national media attention. Some television reports and print media lamented parents abandoning their responsibilities (Eckholm, 2008). But closer inspection of the Nebraska experience is instructive in highlighting an unmet need that reflects the desperation parents can face in dealing with difficult family situations regarding their children.