Safe haven flap puts attention on important problem

We've not been kind to lawmakers who approved Nebraska's disastrous safe haven law, saying it made the state a national laughingstock.

Thursday night's "ER" included a line by a frustrated parent telling a teen to behave "or I'll drop you off in Omaha."

State senators were expected to add a 30-day age limit to the law today, with Gov. Dave Heineman to sign it into law so it goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.

Will there be a rush to beat the deadline?

So far, 35 children have been dropped off at Nebraska, several of them from out of state, but none of them the infants for which the law was intended.

Family advocates say the number of older children dropped off shows just how serious the problem is, and call for more services for families in crisis.

Those in charge of dealing with the abandoned children, naturally enough, say they didn't really need to be abandoned.

To be sure, there are very few parents of teenagers who wouldn't, at times, love to drop them off for someone else to worry about.

At the very least, the safe haven situation indicates agencies and organizations that do provide needed services should do more to make them known. Most of them, like Boys Town with its national hotline (800) 448-3000 or boystown.org is just one example.

But six state senators will spend the next 40 days talking to child welfare experts, mental health specialists, hospital officials and others. By the time the Legislature reconvenes in January, it should have proposals to help deal with the issues the task force identifies.

The safe haven law has been an embarrassment to the state, but it has helped bring the problem of troubled teens and desperate parents to the forefront.

If the task force identifies appropriate action for the state to take, and real changes result, it will have been worth it.