Nebraska's Safe Haven Law

The Safe Haven Law in Nebraska has created a lot of controversy and has made people throughout the United States think about children and parenting.

Here is a link from the Omaha World Herald on the Safe Haven Law --

http://omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10458731


and also from the World Herald a story about a child that was abandoned --

http://omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10490703

Published Tuesday November 18, 2008
'He doesn't act like he has a conscience'
BY KARYN SPENCER
"Then 24, Cowburn was living in North Carolina when a woman begged for money, then asked her to hold her baby, who was dirty and wearing only shorts, while the woman shopped for groceries.
The mother never returned.
Cowburn contacted police and eventually agreed to keep the 16-month-old.
She had had miscarriage after miscarriage and had been adopted as a baby. Her parents had been foster parents, taking in 39 children over the years.
"He was like this miracle who had come into my life," she said. "I thought, really naively, 'All he needs is someone to love him.'"
The first signs of trouble were his screaming fits, hollering for seven hours without shedding a tear. He hoarded food, hiding it in vents and behind furniture.
He has reactive attachment disorder, a lack of emotional attachment that results in disturbed and inappropriate behavior; disruptive behavior disorder, a consistent pattern of breaking rules; and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
"It's like a disruptive 13-year-old in a 5-year-old's body," Cowburn said. "Most mothers wake up to, 'Mommy, I'm hungry.' I have to hear, 'If you don't get up, I'll slit your dog's throat.' This is like a horrible nightmare that never ends."
On Christmas, T pushed Cowburn's 90-pound mother, who fell. She fractured her hip and pelvis and spent seven weeks in a nursing home recovering. Her doctor said the boy cannot come to her home anymore.
The boy has broken Cowburn's nose, cut her forehead with a snow brush and left deep bruises from biting her calf. He has put a kitten inside an oven and blinded the family's parrot."


A link to a recent episode of the NPR show On Point about the safe haven law --

http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2008/11/nebraskas-safe-haven/