GEORGIA ON MY MIND MORNING UPDATE

There's a little more information today on Nebraska's latest Big Kid dump.

This morning's Atlanta Journal-Constitution identifies the "desperate mother" as Tysheema Brown, 33, of Smyrna.

No details, though, on how she managed to drive an allegedly uncontrollable kid 1000 miles all by herself. Did she handcuff him? Lock him in the trunk? OD him on Dramamine? Did he arrive in a straight jacket?

According to Lincoln Police Chief Thomas Casady, who has been less than happy with the Nebraska Fiasco, the county attorney’s office will file a petition in juvenile court and a judge will decide whether to keep the boy under state protection or reunite him with his family.

No word if DHHS intends to contact Georgia authorities. It's a sure bet, though, that Georgia officials will get involved as have Iowa and Michigan agencies in those out-of-state cases.

Finally, you'll really enjoy this: a quote from Tim Jaccard, founder of New York's AMT-Children of Hope Foundation and now the president of the National Safe Haven Alliance (I guess Tom Atwood bailed):

When children are older they have the ability to understand what’s going on, and they’re thinking, "Mommy and Daddy don’t want me anymore, so they’re throwing me in a hospital." That’s a psychological blow.

Unlike the squeaky cute clean slates who get thrown in a hospital and are just plain glowy-eyed that they weren't thrown in the dumpster

Does Jaccard really believe that babies and big kids don't share the "psychological blow" of being dumped? That it's only big kids who are traumatized by abandonment?

Baby dump laws and sealed records are part and parcelof the adoption industry: adoption anonymity and the sealed records system. The laws were only legislated when adoptees took back their right to identity and birth records. And it's backfired.

Big kids with names and histories, especially ones with diagnosed behavioral and mental disorders are about as marketable as Chinese baby milk.

Children are not chattel. No child, no matter what age, should be abandoned willy-nilly, especially with the permission and promotion of the state. Families, mothers and children are in "crisis" across this country and the only solution given is to dump the kid and walk away? Is that the bar we want set in the United States?

GEORGIA ON MY MIND: ANOTHER OUT-OF-STATE-DUMP

Nebraska media reports this morning that a 12-year old boy was dropped off at Bryan LGH Medical Center East in Lincoln The boy's mother told police she was "unable to discipline him."

So what else is new?

Well, this kid is from Georgia!

According to Nebraska HHS spokesperson Todd Landry the mother, who so far has no known connection to Nebraska, drove the boy there from Atlanta. He has been placed in a residential shelter pending investigation.

No other details have been released yet.

In case you're wondering how much these dumps cost (remember, according to dump pushers, dumping your child is a free service of the state and won't cost anybody a dime), Omaha's WOW-TV reported earlier this month:

So what is the law costing taxpayers? In a crude analysis of a 2007 Annual Report from The Nebraska Foster Care Review Board, Channel Six found on average, Nebraska spends about $2,200 a month per child in foster care. When you add the 17 Safe Haven Children and multiply that number by $2,200 the amount per month to provide care for those children so far is costing nearly $39,000 per month. It's half the cost of a special session.

(NOTE: I haven't had time to look for this report to verify)

Since then, more parents have used the dump option--or attempted to. I have news reports indicating that at least 5 potential dumpees (I believe there are more) were channeled into other" programs," but that's for another day).

Addenda: The official statement from Todd Landry went online a little while ago.