Father drops off 9 children under 'haven' law

[DogPoundPup]

Source: Omaha World Herald

Child drop-offs under Nebraska's safe haven law have until now been individual affairs involving individual children.

But Wednesday evening at Creighton University Medical Center, a father dropped off nine children, all his.

The children ranged in age from 1 to 17 years, said Officer Michael Pecha, an Omaha police spokesman.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services was still gathering details late Wednesday and would not comment, department spokeswoman Kathie Osterman said.

She did clarify, however, the process by which children are handled once dropped off:

When a child is left, hospital staffers call local law enforcement. Police in most cases would place a child or children in emergency protective custody.

The county attorney recommends whether a child should remain in state custody or return home, and a judge ultimately decides on placement.

In the week-and-a-half before Wednesday, at least two teens and one preteen had been dropped off at eastern Nebraska hospitals.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10442512

[my2sense]

1. ummmm.

:popcorn:

[WriteDown]

2. I have a friend who's wife is one of 13

children. Her father is a garbage man and her mom stays at home. I don't understand how people do it.

[mopinko]

3. if i had only known.

i thought it was only for babies.

[ensho]

4. lol - ain't that the truth, one time I sat in the closet & cried so I wouldn't kill

mine

[Mabus]

12. If I had known when I was a kid

I would have turned myself in a few times.

I come from a large family (10 kids) and there were some lean times. I cannot imagine raising that many kids in this economy.

edited to add: According to the article most other states have an age/time limit. Nebraska doesn't. The article also says that in the previous week "at least two teens and one preteen had been dropped off at eastern Nebraska hospitals."

[DogPoundPup]

5. None of you 'commenters' can associate this incident and the country's economic situation?

Poverty? Homelessnss?

[MissMillie]

6. well, it's what I was thinking

I imagine that man's heart is breaking because he can't provide for his family.

And the GOP is so supposedly pro-family, but here you have it... these "bankrupt the little guy" policies raising havoc on American families...

[Mabus]

7. That was my first thought: the economy

I come from a large family (10 kids) and there were times when things were lean. I can't imagine trying to raise that many kids in this economy.

[shanti]

right - and a lot of children

in the 30's ended up in "orphanages" because of the same reasons.

[SemperEadem]

23. according to the article

He says child behavioral problems, not family financial woes, were a factor in the earlier cases.

[Gadzooks1]

8. OK, lemme see if I got this right...

Nine (9) children, so we don't do birth control at this house, and now that feeding and clothing and caring for them is getting too expensive, we're just gonna let the state pick up the tab...any bets this guy is a republican? Probably a republican banker or economist.

[bitchkitty]

17. That sounded Republican.

You have no idea of the man's personal circumstances.

[uppityperson]

19. That is a LOT of assumptions there. Can you think of ANY reason beyond those?

The sparseness of the report leads me to many more questions, where you simply jumped to some conclusions. Congratulations.

[LanternWaste]

9. I'm not going to pretend to understand

I'm not going to pretend to understand why a parent would do this, I'm sure there are legitimate and valid reasons that I'm not able to percieve at this moment. That being said...

My God! Abandoning your children seems such an alien concept to me-- something that I simply cannot empathize with on any level. Add to that a seventeen year bond with a son/daughter and then simply closing the door on them seems... I don't know what it seems. I can no more understand this than I can breathe water.

I'm simply expressing amazement-- not judgment for anyone involved.

[mopinko]

14. perhaps he isn't well.

mentally or physically.

[Love Bug]

10. The article doesn't say why he did it

Was he at his wit's end or was it because he couldn't support them any longer? There is obviously much more to the story here, so I'm not going to judge him.

Interesting how the legislature's first reponse is to think about changing the law. What about those kids?

[Bill McBlueState]

11. There are a number of reasons he might have done this

I know this isn't the cool thing to do on the internets, but I'm going to avoid speculating until more details come out.

[mopinko]

13. killjoy

[Mabus]

15. You'll never work in cable!

That's half of what the 24 hour "news" channels has become: "let's play make believe"

[2Design]

16. until you walk a mile in someone else's shoes - this man

obviously loves his children enough to make sure they are taken care of no matter what the rest of the comments in the thread say -

[uppityperson]

18. I am glad there is a proceedure in place to allow this.

I won't judge until I find out more. I am glad that there is a way to make sure your kids get help.

[slackmaster]

20. He must have been in an impossible situation

I wonder what happened to the mother(s) of those children.

[New Dawn]

21. I thought that law was outrageous when it passed.

I'm not surprised to hear the ugly consequences of it. Another big fuck up by the GOP controlled state legislature.

[joeglow3]

24. Who was the idiot who demanded this?

I too live in Nebraska and all they have said is that the age limit "had to be removed in order to pass the bill." Who is the tool shed that demanded that?

[bean fidhleir]

22. NINE kids!?! The number one thing he needs is a vasectomy

or castration. There is NO EXCUSE in this day and age to produce NINE KIDS!

[firedupdem]

25. I really wish they could give more information but I'm sure they

can't for privacy reasons. I hate to sound morbid but at least it wasn't a family murder massacre we're reading about.