Mich. mom drops off teen in Neb.

Mich. mom drops off teen in Neb.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Michigan mother drove roughly 12 hours to Omaha, so she could abandon her 13-year-old son at a hospital under the state’s unique safe-haven law, Nebraska officials said Monday.

The boy from the Detroit area is the second teenager from outside Nebraska and 18th child overall abandoned in the state since the law took effect in July.

“I certainly recognize and can commiserate and empathize with families across our state and across the country who are obviously struggling with parenting issues, but this is not the appropriate way of dealing with them, whether you’re in Nebraska or whether you’re in another state,” said Todd Landry, who heads the state’s Department of Health and Human Services’ division of children and family services.

There was no sign the boy was in immediate danger before he was abandoned early Monday, but an investigation into the boy’s situation was still continuing, Landry said.

The boy has been placed in an emergency shelter. Landry said the family doesn’t appear to have ties to Nebraska and he wasn’t sure if the family had sought help in Michigan first.

State officials have met with the boy’s mother, Landry said, but wouldn’t immediately address her reasons for leaving her son.

“Regardless of why or how, our focus remains on the safety of the child,” he said.

Last week, a 14-year-old girl from Iowa was left at an Omaha hospital by her grandparents. The girl has since been returned to her family.

Nebraska’s safe-haven law is unlike similar laws in that it allows anyone, not just a parent, to drop off a child, of any age, at any state-licensed hospital without fear of prosecution for abandonment. The law doesn’t absolve anyone of other charges such as abuse or neglect.

In Nebraska, several of the parents or guardians who have left children cited uncontrollable behavioral problems.

Lawmakers have spoken about the need to re-examine the law, but the Legislature doesn’t reconvene until January. Gov. Dave Heineman has been reluctant to call a rare special session.