NEBRASKA FIASCO: #29 DOESN'T DISAPPOINT; NEITHER DO DR. PHIL AND DR. LAURA

I knew they wouldn't let us down!

Nebraska DHHS reports that an 11-year old girl from Douglas County was left by her mother today at Bergan Mercy Hospital. No details. She is the 5th child this week to find a new home at a Nebraska hospital.

Only one more to go and we'll hit 30! The weekend, with its leisure time activities, usually marks an upturn in dumps. Hey! let's take a drive in the country!

UPDATES:
Nebraska and Indiana officials spent the day discussing the "best options" for the 8-year old boy left at Bergan Mercy yesterday. Late afternoon they announced that the boy will be returned to Indiana and placed in the custody of The Indiana Department of Children's Services while the investigation continues.

And remember the poor rejected adoptee from Michigan? The Detroit Free Press reports that his adoptive father, Nathaniel Martin, (earlier referred to as Terrence) has regained custody of his two biological children, but the adopted siblings remain in foster care. Their adoptive mother, Teri Martin, who dumped her son and claimed she was forced to adopt him seven years ago so she could adopt his brother, is not allowed in the couple's Southfield, Michigan home while the petition of neglect filed against her remains unresolved.

DR. LAURA AND DR. PHIL
Gee, would you be surprised to learn that these media whores support unregulated child dumping and want YOU to meet them at your local dumpster...er...I mean hospital.

Dr. Laura's, in her incredibly stupid November 4 blog , manages to exhibit a cellular ignorance of baby abandonment in general, "safe haven" laws and adoption in particular, and to insult Nebraska parents and guardians who have utilized this odious law to boot, implying that they are drug addicts, alcoholics, and mentally ill. Apparently in a moment of lucidity between pipes, these incapables have gotten it together enough to drive to the nearest hospital and save a life. The fact is, though I disagree with their decision to use LB 157, none of the people who have utilized this ill-conceived law appear to be genuine knuckle-dragging tweakers and winos. (though a couple lack common sense). Enough newspaper articles have appeared to indicate that "safe haven" consumers are well-intentioned but desperate people who have reached the end of their rope with state and private agency screw-you services that offer plenty of family help on paper, but don't deliver the goods. (Here is a good example. Also read Lavennia Coover's experience and her letter to the Omaha World-Herald in which the mother of #13 describes her frustration with the child welfare system and the whole "safe haven" procedure. )

Read Dr. Laura pontificate:

I had fits hearing criticism that this is abandonment or passing on responsibility. Children in the hands of parents addicted to drugs or alcohol, suffering from various mental illnesses and overwhelmed, barely functional and generally desperate, or simply unwilling are at great risk - and if even one of them has the compassion and good sense to make use of a safe-haven…then we have saved a life…not only from death…but from abuse and a childhood leading only to troubles and problems.

Society is always better off when unwanted children have opportunities with adoptive families, quality foster-families, or placement with relatives who might not even have known there was a problem. These children will have a better chance to grow up more adjusted, and that will obviously minimize bad “acting out” (sexual or criminal variety) or substance abuse to quell emotional pain.

Unfortunately, because of criticism aimed at parents who take advantage of protecting their children rather than harming them, the Governor of Nebraska, Dave Heinemen, is calling a special session of the legislature to change the state’s unique safe-haven law - amending it so that it applies only to infants up to 3 days old. I believe this is a HUGE mistake.

Not to be out done, Dr. Phil, went on TV today and recommended that stressed-out parents drop off their kids at dump-friendly environments. Due to the vagaries of my TV, I was unable to watch the show, but you can see a trailer and "Dr. Phil Uncensored" here. I should have a copy of the show next week and have a better idea of what went down. Reportedly, the show was emotionally manipulative and abusive. Included was a tired-out young single mom who Phil thinks would be better off as a perky birthmother if only she'd be unselfish enough to toss her kids into the adoption spammer and get a life.

Just what we've come to expect from America's favorite TV do-gooder.

Nebraska DHHS announces that earlier today an 8-year old boy from Wabash, County, Indiana was handed into the beneficient hands of the State of Nebraska at Bergan Mercy Hospital in Omaha. No details have been released. Outside of the anomalous Staton case, this is the youngest child dropped off in Nebraska. He is the 28th dumpee since the law went into effect on July 16, and the fourth this week. (There was also an attempted dro-off of an 18-year old on November 3 at Immanuel MC).

For some reason this case upsets me more than the routine upset of each case. Eight years old. When I was that age I was planning my career as an Egyptologist (obviously, that didn't work out), reading Miss Pickrel books, and playing one of the Cookie Children in Hansel & Gretel. Even if this child is mentally ill, how must he feel?

I'm sick.

And just when you think it can't get any worse:
In other news, Douglas County Juvenile Court Judge Vernon Daniels has ordered two 15-year old girls left at Omaha hospitals on October 28 to remain in state custody pending further investigation. The cases are unrelated.

I don' even know what to comment on these cases other than the trite, some people just shouldn't breed. From the Omaha-World Herald:

For the first girl, a "big argument" with her aunt led her to being left Oct. 27 at an Omaha hospital.

The girl told a police officer that her mother picked her up from the aunt's home, where she had lived for 13 months, took her to Creighton University Medical Center and told her to go inside.

"I'm done with you," the mother said before driving away, according to the girl's account.

In court, a state caseworker said the girl had been prescribed medication and was in therapy five years ago when she lived with her grandmother.

The girl's mother didn't believe the girl needed the treatment. When the girl moved home again, the therapy and medication ended, the caseworker said.

The girl will receive updated mental health evaluations. Daniels also approved giving her mother supervised visits.

As for the second case:

On Oct. 23, the other 15-year-old girl entered Immanuel Medical Center's partial hospitalization program. She was hospitalized for psychiatric care during the day and went home in the evenings.

The father was to pick her up at 6 p.m. Oct. 28 but instead said he wanted to invoke the safe haven law, according to court records.

He told police at the hospital the girl needed 24-hour care that he could not provide. In court, his attorney said the girl has "learning disabilities and extreme psychiatric problems."

Her parents have fought each other for custody in court several times over the years, court records show.

In 1996, the father accused the mother of a history of drug, psychiatric and alcohol problems, while the mother accused him of using drugs and belonging to the Hell's Angels gang.

They had joint custody, with the girl mainly living with the mother, until 2004, when the mother was accused of abusing and neglecting the girl.

The girl told police that her mother had punched and strangled her, leaving bruises. She also said her mother drank heavily and smoked marijuana. The girl was put in foster care and received therapy and medication for ADHD.

The mother was ordered to take medication and get therapy for psychiatric and substance abuse issues.

A judge gave the father custody in 2005.

The next year, the mother sought custody and child support, saying the girl was living with her. However, the mother never finished pursuing it in court.

The girl will remain in Immanuel's program until a doctor says she has improved. Her parents can visit her, Daniels said, but she will live in foster care.

On Friday, that's where the girl celebrated her 16th birthday.

The entire child welfare system in Nebraska--and every other state--is broken beyond repair. Can any more lazier and uncaring solution be found than "safe havens"? Repeal this pieceacrap law now. Everywhere.

And, of course...Dr. Phil weighs in...

Friday - November 7, 2008 Child Abandonment Abandoning a child is largely considered the worst thing a parent could do … or is it? As an alternative to leaving unwanted babies to starve in dumpsters and alleys, many states have enacted a safe haven law, which provides the option of leaving the child in a safe place, such as a hospital or fire station, with no questions asked. Nebraska was the last state to enact the law; and did so without an age restriction. As a result, there has been a recent spate of parents dropping off grown teenagers to the care of the state! Should an age limit be set? When Courtney, 34, became overwhelmed with caring for her 15-year-old daughter, she says she used the loophole in the law to get her daughter the care she needed. Was this an act of abandonment, or a mother’s last resort? Next, abandoned at an airport at just 10 days old, Elizabeth was given the nickname “Delta Dawn” by the pilots who found her, and Michael, left in a trash can by his birth mother, was saved by a night watchman. Learn how their lives played out and hear the lasting repercussions of their abandonment. Then, meet Elizabeth, a 20-year-old mother of two who says she is considering giving up her daughters. Would her decision be in the best interest of the children? And, when Maria, at age 16, unexpectedly gave birth on her bathroom floor, she says she stabbed the baby with a pair of scissors. Find out what drove her to such drastic measures.

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Children of the Corn will be updated shortly.