Tag Archives: New York Safe haven laws

….New York A9638 recently crossed my path. Sponsored by  Assb.Michaelle C.Solages,(D-#AD22.) the bill proposed two changes in the state’s child abandonment law.

1. Making it illegal for parents to abandon children up to 16 years of age; the current maximum age is 14.
2. raising the age a child can be left under the state’s Safe Haven law from 30 days of age to 16 years.,

this isn’t  some abstract implication–it’s written right into the bill:

A person is not guilty of the provisions of this section when he or
     9  she engages in the conduct described in subdivision one of this section:
    10  (a)  with  the  intent  that  the child be safe from physical injury and
    11  cared for in an appropriate manner; (b) the child is left with an appro-
    12  priate person, or in a suitable location and the person who  leaves  the
    13  child  promptly  notifies an appropriate person of the child's location;
    14  and (c) the child is not more than [thirty days] sixteen years old.

Apparently, nobody bothered to tell Rep Solanges about Nebraska. But I will!

Read Children of the Corn, my very extensive –sometimes day-by-day– account of the  Great Nebraska Fiasco of 2008 where dozens of inconvenient kids ended up dumped through the auspices of the ex-Nebraska Safe Haven law that allowed anyone from birth to 18 to be dumped.  Parents came from all over the country.  Over a 127- day period, 36 kids, including a number of teenagers, were tossed.  One dad dropped off 9 kids. Another kid tried to Safe Haven himself.  Here’s a summary of stats I compiled.

Asb Solanges has very solid and sane creds, so inquiring minds want to know where this came  from.   There is nothing wrong with raising the age for the prosecution of parents who abandon children up to the age of 16, but Safe Haven? Was this some sloppy targeting of unregulated re-homing?   That’s the only excuse that occurs to me, and that’s a stretch.

The bill went no farther than the Codes Committee, gathered no additional sponsors, and is now dead. I can’t imagine any Safe Haven advocate that I know personally supporting this weird tripe. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Thanks to Greg Luce for the tip!