Heineman signs safe-haven bill

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BY JoANNE YOUNG / Lincoln Journal Star

Nebraska’s unique safe haven law changed overnight to a more traditional one expected to take the state out of the national spotlight.

Senators ended a special session Friday morning with a 43-5 vote amending the law to apply only to  infants up to 30 days old. Gov. Dave Heineman signed it  and it took effect at midnight.

The law does two things, Heineman said: It restores the intent of the bill, and it removes a reason for families from outside of Nebraska to use state’s safe haven law.

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Angie sits in her son Alex's bedroom at their south Lincoln home. Therapists have recommended that she take advantage of the safe haven law with her son who has been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, but she doesn't plan to do that. (Jacob Hannah)

Angie sits in her son Alex's bedroom at their south Lincoln home. Therapists have recommended that she take advantage of the safe haven law with her son who has been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, but she doesn't plan to do that. (Jacob Hannah)

Before the bill became truer to its original intent of keeping newborns from being abandoned in Dumpsters  or other unsafe, out-of-the-way places, 35 children ended up in the hands of Nebraska hospital employees.

But most of those dropped off over a nearly 10-week period were adolescents.

The phenomenon didn’t escape the attention of the national media and TV scriptwriters.

On Thursday night’s “ER” episode, a pregnant woman who is verbally assaulting a man for writing her a parking ticket yells as she is wheeled through the emergency department: “If my kid grows up to be like him, I am dropping him off in Omaha, you hear me? I will disown him.”

National — and even international news media — covered at least parts of this week’s special session.

On Friday night, ABC’s “20/20” included a segment on Angie and Alex, a Lincoln mother and son featured in a Journal Star story on Oct. 12. Angie and her son had struggled with his mental illness and getting him services.

Even as senators upheld the age restriction, they vowed to look deeper into the problems of older children getting mental and behavioral health services.

Sen. Annette Dubas of Fullerton, one of five senators who voted against the amended age limit, remained opposed to shutting off older children and families in crisis from safe haven. Her bill (LB3) included a provision for helping older children in crisis but did not make it to the floor for debate.

She and others acknowledged the solutions will not be quick or easy. Dubas is one of six senators on a special task force that will explore the issue with mental and behavioral health providers and others interested in the issue between now and January, looking for solutions. The regular session begins Jan. 7.

Dubas said the issue is one of a number involving how services are delivered through the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, including those for developmentally disabled adults.

“This is just one little piece of a bigger puzzle,” she said.

The Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee held hearings this summer and fall with departments of HHS. Committee members also talked with Appropriations Committee members about funding.

“No matter what we do, we need to find ways to fund it,” said Sen. Tim Gay of Papillion, HHS Committee member.

“One year, one session is not going to solve all these problems, and to give a false sense of hope, we don’t need to do that,” Gay said.

Heineman said challenges include whether services are accessible and whether there are gaps, and how to fund what is needed, “particularly with the economic challenges we are facing.”

Gay said the Legislature needs to be persistent and consistent in the future on these issues, because the problems have developed over a long course of time, he said.

“Now we need to find a productive solution. That takes a lot of hard work,” he said.

Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.