Neb. Safe Haven Law Draws Criticism

Sen. Brad Ashford, chairman of the Nebraska Legislature's Judiciary Committee, said the law should continue to apply to all children.

(ABCNews Photo Illustration)

"I don't think the law is causing problems -- the problem is out there," he said. "The law is in fact just highlighting what is out there. These family issues need to be addressed."

The abandonments, which began last month, have focused attention on what advocates say is lack of resources for beleaguered parents. In many cases, parents who have abandoned their children in recent months told authorities that the kids were out of control or suffered from mental health issues.

Gary Staton left nine of his 10 children, ages 1 to 17, at a hospital last month. Staton told Omaha TV station KETV that after his wife died early last year and he lost his job, "I didn't think I could do it alone. I fell apart. I couldn't take care of them."

"I was able to get the kids to a safe place before they were homeless," he said. "I hope they know I love them. I hope their future is better without me around them."

Related

Taxi Driver: Hero or Baby Dumper?

Cash Offered for 'Baby Grace' ID

In the latest case, a 14-year-old girl from Iowa was abandoned by her grandmother at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, the first time a child from out of state has been abandoned under Nebraska's law.

Roger Munns, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Health Services, said Iowa officials planned to speak to the grandmother and that the girl could be placed in foster care in Nebraska or sent back to her family in Iowa.

"Throwing up your hands and giving up on your child and taking them to Nebraska is not the way to handle a troubled teenager," he said.

Though the law immunizes parents from prosecution in Nebraska, Todd Landry, director of the Division of Children and Family Services for the Department of Health and Human Services, suggested that the woman could be prosecuted in Iowa, which allows parents to give up children under its safe haven law until they are two weeks old.

"Clearly this law had had unintended consequences. I think at this point it is very clear that Nebraska needs to provide a vehicle to help parents of challenged children," said Kathy Moore, director of Voices for Children, a child advocacy group. "Parents need to be able to come forward and say they need therapy, they need residential treatment" for their children.