" Special session ASAP??? "

" Guess HHS better start building a big house for all these drop-offs to reside in. "

" Way to go Governor, You are really taking a lead here. I wonder if children from other countries can do this? what would stop them. Not like we can stop them at the border or anything. "

" News Release- ABC will host the new reality show called Kid Drop hosted by our very own governor. It will feature kids from all over the country and some from overseas. Because I bet that isn't in the bill ether. The climax of the show will be on the floor of the Legislature in January featuring 20 plus green senators to try and fix this mess. Well good luck in your TV. career because you are done as governor after this debacle. "

" How about a SPECIAL SESSION?!?! I think this is getting out of hand. These 'parents' need to have their rights dissolved immediately. Once they drop their child off, they can no longer have any claim to them. Being a parent is difficult. It's the hardest thing I've ever done. But I'm not about to give up. I'm not about to throw my hands in the air and say, well, ok, that was fun, but you're too much work and I'd rather sit on the couch and watch tv instead of being active in their lives and getting help. Hey, NE, let's raise some taxes to build a home for these poor kids while we're at it. They are going to be needing one at the rate we are heading! "

" would it really have been that difficult to put an age restriction on the law like everyone else has? "

" GREAT! Just what the taxpayers of this fine state need; we can surely afford to pay for every child in the nation to have a safe haven from their irresponsible parents. Perfect! "

" Another out-of-state child got dropped off here. So tell me again why is it that the Nebraska taxpayers have to foot the bill to care for other states' children! I agree that the state senators need to reconvene ASAP so that my tax dollars don't go to help care for other states' children! I'd rather foot the bill as a taxpayer for a single special session on this matter than the bill for the number of children dropped off between now and when the unicameral reconvenes! "

" This is getting way out of hand. Something needs to be done and now other wise it's just going to snowball downhill. "

" If this wasn't such a sad situation it would be laughable. Of 48 states (I believe)examples of how to write this statute our legislators choose to do something different. For those who are anti-term limits, this is classic example of why term limits are good idea. "

" The new theme song for the State of Nebraska...Dueling Banjos! "

" I think the legislature is just as to blame here for putting together such a vague law. What would have been wrong to put some parameters around dropping a child off at a hospital? Agreed, the Governor should NOT have signed the bill into law, but come Legislature, how can you put forth such a flawed bill! We are quickly becoming known as the state of misfit children. "

" If the people abandoning their responsibilities aren't residents of Nebraska when they leave their children at the hospital shouldn't they potentially be liable for a crime in their home state, depending on the wording in that state? Seems like crossing state lines with the intent to abandon a minor could also potentially make it a federal abuse issue. "

" Guess that's one way to get tourists to come here! "

" The age limit needs to be up to 1 month old. Safe haven is meant to save newborns from being left in dumpsters, not to quit being a parent after a few years. I was all for this law, but only to protect scared mothers and newborn babies. "

" Its better to have these kids (who come from people who "cant handle them") dropped off than beaten, murdered or out on the streets. We SUPPORT THOUSANDS of UNWANTED Immigrants with TAX PAYERS MONEY, Why so much complaining about the burden placed on the system by THESE children? THEY are Americans! They shouldn't be denied aid when its needed.The system should bend over backwards to help THEM! I would much rather help them than the illigals! Oh, but I don't really get the choice where MY tax money gos do I?! Help these kids out and quit trying to BLOCK them from access to much needed help!!! "

" This seems like a great program that many will want to take advantage of. Let's try to spread the word on Facebook, YouTube, and MySpace. If each of us puts something out there, it may get things going. "

" I read this headline and just started laughing. If the legislators who came up with this "idea" don't feel like idiots now, it'll never happen. Of course, we have to have "feel-gooder" post about how we need to take in and support every errant kid born to irresponible "parents". What a joke. "

" Thanks for finally including a link in this story to where families can obtain assistance. More details in the print paper would be helpful to those who feel they are at the end of their ropes. And I'm sorry, but I'll say it again - no matter what the circumstances, another child is safe. Praise God! "

" Sorry kids. Listening to these people in NE the only ones worth saving are 1 month or younger. After that your worthless. It must have something to do with all that compassionate conservatism that runs rampant here. "

" This is actually probably a good argument against term limits. Legislators with more experience likely would have not produced a bill like this.

Yet, if we had elected a real governor in 2006 we might not have been in this mess... "

" Because we only want to protect babies, right? "

" I quick way to get this solved is that other states have to give Nebraska $$$ for each child dropped off. "

" Can you imagine how these kids must feel? Bad day or two with the kid? Why not get rid of them!?! Come to Nebraska! Maybe we could post this on our state's travel guide! "

" The Safe Haven law doesn’t absolve the parents of their parental responsibility. The goal of places like CEDARS is “family reunification”. I don’t think the parents that are dropping their kids off realize this. "

" This has nothing to do with the abortion issue. This has to do with stupid legislation that makes it easy for parents to abandon their children and their responsibilities. EVERY member of society has to be held accountable here.

People aren't saying they hate children or that their lives are not valuable. On the contrary, we're saying, "Parents . . . your kids are extremely important and you need to take care of them." "

" Isn't the purpose of this law for infants? NE really messed up with making the age 18. Now that these stories are getting press, it's going to happen left and right now. "

" Putting this on kid websites is my nightmare! I have a daughter who is chronologically challenged. I could see her abandoning herself at a hospital because she is really angry over being grounded! My bet is the state would step in and tell me I am an abusive parent for grounding a 14 year old till she does her chores.
There's another side to this. "

" Imagine that you are a divorced woman with three children, working two jobs to support them and receiving none of the court ordered child support from your ex to which you are entitled. Your incorrigible fifteen year old refuses to do as he should, and since you must work so many hours, you can't be there to reinforce the rules. He is on a path that you know will lead to serious trouble. No one in the family can deal with him. You have contacted all the State and Local agencies of which you know and have been met with nothing but bureaucratic buck-passing, delays, bungling, and ineptitude, in short, no help is forthcoming. You have no where left to turn. Except the Safe Haven law. You know that if your troubled son becomes a ward of the State, the appropriate agencies will be forced to take action promptly and effectively, a response that you couldn't evoke from them. The upshot is that the Safe Haven law has created a clearing house for troubled or deprived youth almost all of whom should be benefitting from the system anyway. The fear that Nebraska will become a "dumping ground" for unwanted children from other states doesn't hold up under scrutiny, since Nebraska merely returns such children to the proper agencies in the appropriate states. The seventeen children who have entered into state care under the Safe Haven law do not constitute a "landslide", have not caused a significant drain on the funding of the agencies involved, and in fact have benefitted by its existence. The Legislature should leave the law as is. It is serving a valuable, even though unanticipated, purpose. "

" STOP THE MADNESS!! How many more before someone steps up to correct this terribly disfunctional law?? "

" To blame this on term limits is to ignore the fact that there were PLENTY of senators in the legislature this year that had not yet been removed due to term limits...Ernie Chambers being one of them. This isn't the fault of new senators...this is the fault of ALL senators. "

" While I do find it very sad children of such an older age (11-17) are being dropped off, it is also better than the alternative. To hear of child neglect and abuse of children these same ages I find is even harder to stomach. I do not agree with children from other states being dropped off though.

The system is not a perfect one, but if the children have a better chance at life, why not give it to them? 90% of these kids we are more than likely already paying for (i.e. welfare, WIC, various programs) so why not place them with more suitable parents or in a safer place? I would much rather see this, than pay for some worthless mother to neglect her children and see them wind up dead.

I don't think an age limit is appropriate for the safe haven law. Especially one that limits to up to one month old. Many problems can arise at various times in life. Homelessness, joblessness, sickness, things of this nature can happen especially with our everdrowning economy. We need to take care of our children, nobody else will. "

" Babies are the only children worth saving, lets change this law asap. "

" Be "childfree" like us, and you won't have to wonder about the joys or heartaches of children. "

" This is totally wrong and not what was intended by the law! This is child abuse if you ask me. These kids are going to have emotional scars for the rest of their lives! "

" Ya know i normally just get on this site to read about our Huskers, but it seems like every time i log on i'm rading about how yet another child has been dropped off at a hospital. I'm 26, and have a beautiful little boy of my own here in Kansas, and it seems so crazy to think of just going and dropping him off somewhere and sayin goodbye. How do these people live with themselves? I'm sure there are plenty of them that claim to not have enough money or patients to raise them any longer....where were those thoughts when you were making that child?? I know for a fact you could go get a job if you wanted, work 2 of them if you need to, anything to keep from just dumping your kids off. Its mind blowing. Like I said I no longer live in Nebraska (wish i did), so i do not understand the safe haven law completely but it sounds like a complete idiotic law. maybe good intensions, but those don't matter now. People need to realize that if your mature enough to have sex you need to be prepared to have a child. Another example of the STUPID people that surround us all daily. "

" I work with kids, many of those who have been abandoned under this law. There are a lot of people saying they do this because they have exhausted all of their resources. But that isn't true at all. There are so many resources people are unaware of. I think this badly worded law has exposed a very big wound many Nebraskans and others from surrounding states have felt and dealt with quietly on their own. This law is NOT their only option, but in the absence of a good coordination of resources made available to anyone who needs them, this feels that way to many families. Unfortunately, they have to cause more emotional harm to their child to get these services this way.

Nebraska does need to change the language of this law, but they also need to create a system to handle these children who would otherwise fall through the cracks. It will involve more money in the prevention side of things, which Nebraska has historically shown they are very much against. They would rather spend millions more after the problem has gotten too big to ignore. What I mean by that: Prisons and state run mental health facilities. How many people in there could have been spared that fate if they had been given the access to the services they needed when they were younger? How much money would Nebraska save in the long run if they had more prevention programs? MILLIONS, possibly BILLIONS. How many children would be subjected to this cruel abandonment that they don't understand? NONE.

This law was intended for infants, new born infants who would have no recollection or emotional damage done by this act. Another protection needs to be put into place for these under-served teenagers and children. "

" I have family that live in Lincoln and am very sad at the comments being made. Heartless people should just keep their opinions to themselves. These are children, what are you thinking!! Someone needs to help and make a positive difference in their little lives. Its obvious they have come to the wrong state for that. Alot of these comments are horrible!!!! "

" with 48 other 'safe haven' laws on the books in other states, why did Nebraska think they could "come up" with a new and better law?

FYI, these other laws have not had NEARLY this amount of confusion/concern/embarassment associated with them. "

" If you can be in a car with a kid for 742 miles, he can't be that bad!! "

" What difference does it make if its for an infant or not. It's a stupid law for not punishing the parents who abandon all ages of children. "This is not the proper way to deal with them" is true, and just as true for a newborn as any other dependent child. Parents of newborn mothers should not get a free pass either. "

" This is baaaaaaad! I voted for the coach and I think he would have done a lot better job. I knew Gov Dave would mess up and he did! "

" Ok. Enough. No comment on the parents or the lack of community services. What eeds to be addressed is the broken legislative system. The Nebraska unicameral is the joke of the nation. We need two independent houses to enusre that poorly thought out laws like this are defeated prior to passing. No age limit and no residency requirement? It's not like we had to invent the wheel, just copy it from the other states. This is not hard. Change the unicam and raise the bar on legislative competency. "

" I like the law the way it is because no child should grow up in a family that doesn't want them. Some of these drop-offs have been due to a lack of finances or support services -- the state should provide more assistance. But what if the parent can't take care of their 8- or 12-year-old because of their own drug, alcohol or mental health problem? Not all of these kids who have been or will be dropped off under this law are 'rotten' kids. Some of them were probably just given rotten parents. Don't punish the kids for the parents' failures. "

" I wonder which State will be the first to realize they can eliminate their entire state ward financial burden by loading them all on Amtrak and dropping them off at a Nebraska hospital. "

" FANTASTIC writing...we need to reread her statement. We need to help the teenagers too. Remember it is not always the kids fault. "

" People we have done it to ourselves. The surrmounting troubles youth get into is part of our fault. Look at television program, video games etc, it shows the "fun" side. We as parents have not failed but we also now have to work, more time from the home. It is not Ozzy and Harriet times with freshed baked cookies on the table. But if you look back, that is what they need--stability. We are too tired, we have laundry to do, we have dinner to do (and forget the family dinner table), we have them in so many activities they can't think--it's all programmed for them. I use to train leaders and used my own term--the D&D parent...drive and dump. Quality time is going through Mc'Ds and grabbing a hamburger on the way to an activity and talking about their day in 3.2 second. We have done this people not only to them but to ourselves. Before the law is changed, we need to think of resources, do awareness to these parents what is available and make sure those programs are NOT prohibitive. But most cost $$$ of which we don't have. So the alternative is???? "

" Absolutely outrageous! No law is better than a bad law, and in this case it's a terrible law. When will the special session be? "

" There won't be a special session. The 2 words that are keeping a special session from happening, Ernie Chambers. The voters of nebraska feared him enough to amend the constitution to get him out, no way will they allow him back in one more time even if it is for something important. "

" This is absolutely heartbreaking. There are SO many resources out there to help parents- sadly enough most only want assistance that provides financial support for housing, groceries and medical, in order be unemployed and to use their own funds for addictions and such- I've seen it. It’s a sad, sad world and the reason it keeps getting worse is because these people reproduce and serve as a terrible examples for their children. Maybe this law will save one more child from a terrible road often traveled…

For all of the Anti-Safe Haven people posting comments- hug your parent(s)… they actually loved you- aren’t you glad? "

" I don’t see what this big issue is. Since when do we stop caring about the well being of someone based on their age? Anyone under the age 18 should be considered for this very generous law. If someone isn't getting the love and nurture like they should be, then they need to be with another family. I don’t think this should be an easy fix for a parent that is frustrated, but if they truly can't care for their child they need to be given up to a more stable person. I feel there should be rules though. Such as not allowing these parents to have kids again. Sounds harsh and I know there are certain circumstances, but you have to draw the line someone. These poor kids are suffering for choices we make. "

" No need to rush! Nebraska is slowly but surely edging out a spot that had formerly been held by Mississippi for many years (that would be "last"). "

" There are NOT a lot of resources for families of older problem children. My son has bee diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and Fetal Alcohol Effects. I adopted him from the state of Nebraska. He steals, is aggressive, lies, is dangerous.... We lived every day in fear of him. We did counseling since the day he came to live with me. I took him to various psychiatrists and tried different meds. We tried various parenting techniques. I took classes. He never wanted to be adopted and made it very clear every day. After safety started to become an issue, we looked at alternate placements. Everyone was full! I was able to get him into the YES house for a week. I was told I could sign over my rights to the state, but I was risking them taking all my kids and being charged with nelect. If this law had been around when he was younger, I would have used it. I finally got him placed at a residential treatment program. He begged not to come home to live. He would not have been scarred for life had I taken him to a hospital and left him. BUT, my other 3 children have been "scarred"having to live with him. We lived in constant fear of him and the stress level was high. Look at the cases history from the Omaha World Herald. Most of these kids were not just smoking behind the garage like Mr. Landry stated. Unless you have lived with a child like this, how can you judge? There is not help for children like these. Hopefully this law will bring this need for services to the forefront. "

" Is there a specific time kids can be dropped off? I think this is the best law ever passed by our legislature. I hope other states follow our lead. I know a single mom near Nebraska who is having a terrible time with her 14 year old kid. Her kid has no respect for anyone. The police say the mom is at fault and she should continue taking beatings from the kid. This kid has stabbed her, beat her up, stoled money, and fought her 65 year old grandfather for telling her to go to bed at 2am. She lies to the police and they continue to say there is nothing we can do. Laughling, one officer actually said,"We can help you if she kills you otherwise wait until she is 18 and call us. I'm giving her directions today! "

" Wouldn’t a RTC (Residental Treatment Center) be a resource? Having to move a child to a program like ones of CEDARS or Boys Town is undoubtibly a difficult choice. This IS a resource for parents with children that require a higher level of care- obviously very expensive and at times stressful, but this is why such organizations exist. Beds do fill- unfortuantly it’s because these facilities are scarce and can only be so large for financial and staffing reasons. THEY ARE State funded= Tax payer $$$… Again, if MORE money was put into PREVENTION- our community's youth may have a better chance… KEEP THIS LAW AS IS! "