The mother gave this account of Saturday night's use of the law in Lincoln in which she left her 12-year-old boy at BryanLGH Medical Center East.
JOANNE YOUNG / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Sunday, October 26, 2008 7:00 pm
When a parent or guardian decides to use the state’s safe haven law, hospitals, law enforcement and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services spring into action.
The mother gave this account of Saturday night’s use of the law in Lincoln in which she left her 12-year-old boy at BryanLGH Medical Center East.
She brought her son inside the hospital and was guided by security guards to the hospital’s emergency department. There, she was led into a room by medical personnel to answer questions.
The boy was led away. Lincoln police were called, a hospital protocol. After she answered questions, she asked to leave.
As she prepared to drive away from the hospital, a Lincoln police officer stopped her. He told her that the safe haven law was intended for use by parents of infants and not intended for use by out-of-state parents.
Chief Tom Casady said Sunday the officer was not attempting to alter the situation. The child had already been left at the hospital.
The officer was just trying to find out who she was. There have been two cases in which officers helped parents get their children voluntarily admitted to the hospital, he said.
At one child’s home, a parent told an officer she wanted to use the law. The officer took the child into protective custody, to be admitted to a hospital, Casady said.
In another case, an officer came to BryanLGH Medical Center West as a woman was there to leave her child and the officer negotiated with medical staff, who agreed to voluntarily admit the child.
On Saturday night, after speaking to an officer, the Georgia woman left the hospital and drove to her brother’s south Lincoln house. Within the hour, a social worker with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services called to ask questions.
Did the mother know she would be responsible for child support for her son? That she could lose her parental rights?
What was her Georgia address? Did she have other children?
Where was her daughter and what was her daughter’s birth date? What were the names and birth dates of other family members that might visit her son? What family members might be able to take custody?
And could the social worker come to where the mother was now?
The mother asked why she needed the information about her daughter and family. She had left information at the hospital, and she did not want the social worker coming to see her.
An hour or so later, she looked outside and noticed a car in front of the house. She went to see who it was and her sister-in-law followed.
It was the social worker, and as she stood talking to her, a police car pulled up, and an officer rushed toward her.
They talked. After 10 minutes or so, the officer and social worker left.
HHS spokeswoman Kathie Osterman said that at the end of the child’s 48-hour protective custody, the department would need as much information as it could get.
“We collect more information now than we used to,” she said.
More information helps HHS and the county attorney’s office make better decisions about the child’s welfare, she said.
Workers always ask about family members for background checks for visitors and for family group counseling, she said. Placement of the child with family is an option for state wards.
And frequently, she said, it’s easier to get information in person than over the phone.
Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.