Abandoned Older Children in the United States

What is amazing about the Nebraska "safe-haven" law is how many of the children who have been dropped off are not babies or even young children with the exception of one under the age of six. Although Governor Dave Heineman has called for a special legislative session to repair the hole in Nebraska's "safe haven" law so that only babies can be legally abandoned, it has pointed out a fact that concerns the entire nation. Obviously, there is a problem in our country when parents feel they are not able to care for their own children. It is a problem if services that could be utilized are either unknown by the parents or not affordable. If, within a two-month period, 23 children, including children from other states, have been dropped off because their caretakers were not able to control them or to care for their basic needs, how many children nationwide are not being heard from?

All fifty states have some kind of "save haven" law. Even so, if there are laws being written to allow parents to drop off their babies under the age of one year (the average being three days) without being penalized or prosecuted for doing so, perhaps we need to look at legislating laws to protect all children under the age of 18. With the economic situation as it is today and with the unemployment rate going up each month, many of these parents are having a difficult time procuring enough food to feed their children, let alone other expenses associated with sending them to school or for medical care. Since the United States is able to send billions of dollars off to third world countries for food and medical supplies, why are we not able to take care of our own? Why are so many children in the United States still going to bed hungry or without needed essentials to take care of their lives?

Children are born every day in this country that fall victim to malnutrition, starvation, abuse (both physical and sexual), neglect, and even murder by their parents. Why does this happen? In many states, even if you are legitimately not able to care for your child and need to give the care over to someone else, you are likely to be charged with a variety of crimes including neglect and child endangerment. These charged crimes will place many parents in prison for extended periods of time. Not only is the child victimized, but also so are parents who may not be able to control, support, or provide for the child. In addition, the states have to pay for the incarceration of parents who may have only been doing what they thought was best for their child.

The reasons for a child to be abandoned may be as unintelligent as those parents who left their children at home alone to either go gambling or go on vacation. However, the reasons why the thousands of other children are abandoned may be from a breakup of the family, job loss, financial insecurity, a death in the immediate family, and mental or physical disabilities of either the parents or the child. Many critics of the "save haven" law believe even more children will be abandoned due to the economy and the loss of homes due to foreclosures.

According to Justin D. Long, of the World Evangelization Research Center (MMRC), over 7000 children are abandoned each year. Research by the Foster Care Statistics, show children in foster care in the United States to be numbered at an estimated 513,000 children as of September 30, 2005. This number included both short-term and long-term stays for these children. How many were actually abandoned by their parents was not listed; nor does this cover the thousands of children who ran away or were "throw away" kids and who are now living literally on the streets of many of our cities. Again, the costs of taking care of these children fall on the shoulders of the county, state and the nation itself.

It is my opinion that the states and the federal government need to do more for these families of older children. Widespread education about available programs and access to those programs should be made available to any family in crisis regardless of the cost. If the circumstances warrant, parents should not be placed in prison because they are simply not able or have the necessary capabilities to care for their children. More attention should be given to families that are showing signs of stress or dysfunction so that programs can be offered to fix the problem before a another family is disintegrated due to financial or emotional burdens. Perhaps, less money should be spent on taking care of other countries and put to better use taking care of our own children.

Sources:

Neb. governor accelerates fix of safe-haven law

Abandoned children and infants, By Justin D. Long, 1998

Foster Care Statistics