Neb. lawmakers form task force on child drop-offs
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Posted: 7:43 AM Nov 21, 2008
Neb. lawmakers form task force on child drop-offs
Lincoln, NE
Friday is probably the last day parents can abandon troubled teens at Nebraska hospitals, but lawmakers aren't patting themselves on the back.
Reporter: The Associated Press
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Friday is probably the last day parents can abandon troubled teens at Nebraska hospitals, but lawmakers aren't patting themselves on the back.

Instead, they're vowing to make sure families can get help in a crisis. Six state senators have formed a task force that promises to hand the Legislature proposals by the time it reconvenes in January.

The original safe haven law was intended to prevent newborns from being dumped in trash bins or worse.

But without an age limit, the consequences have startled lawmakers and others. None of the 35 children dropped off since September has been an infant, and most have been preteens and teenagers.

Senators are expected to add an age limit in the law that bars abandoning children older than 30 days. Gov. Dave Heineman will likely sign the bill into law so it goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
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