Neb. safe-haven fix blocks parents from leaving teens

Neb. safe-haven fix blocks parents from leaving teens

The revision covers children up to 30 days old and reflects lawmakers’ original intent to protect newborns.

By Nate Jenkins
The Associated Press
Updated: 11/21/2008 10:34:39 PM MST

LINCOLN, Neb. — Gov. Dave Heineman signed into law Friday a bill adding a 30-day age limit to a safe-haven law that allowed 35 children — including teenagers as old as 17 — to be abandoned at state hospitals.

The law, approved hours earlier by the Legislature in a 45-3 vote, was to go into effect Saturday and makes Nebraska the 14th state with a 30-day age cap. It had been the only state with a safe-haven law without an age limit.

“I think this solves the immediate problem of adolescents being abandoned,” said state Sen. Kent Rogert. “These kids are old enough to know they’re being dropped off, and that’s not good.”

The law was meant to prevent newborns from being dumped in trash bins or worse.

But it has been used to abandon 35 children at state hospitals since July — many of them preteens or teenagers as old as 17.

Hospital officials have described children crying hysterically as they pleaded with their parents not to leave them.

Five of the children have been from other states, including from as far away as Florida and Michigan. The law was not revised to preclude infants from other states from being dropped off.

Heineman said the age limit should keep Nebraska from becoming a dumping ground for children from out of state and will refocus the law on lawmakers’ original intent: to protect newborns.

Parents and guardians who have dropped off the kids have said they have done so because they thought they had nowhere else to turn.

None of the children dropped off was an infant, a point some child-welfare advocates and others have said shows of a lack of public services to help troubled older youths.

Lawmakers have vowed to address the issue during the regular legislative session, which convenes in January, and have formed a task force to forge recommendations.

State officials deny there is a lack of services and have said some of the children were unnecessarily abandoned.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_11047062?source=rss

Abusive Programs

This page will contain a directory of programs.

In order to appear on this list, they have to be cited by one or more watch-organizations as abusive.

See link: http://wiki.fornits.com/index.php?title=Program_directory

Spectrum Care Academy Inc. (KY)

Suit against teen center where girl died sealed
The Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Ky. — A judge has sealed a lawsuit against a treatment center for teenage girls accused of being poorly run after the center settled with the family of a patient killed after running into traffic.

Adair Circuit Judge James G. Weddle sealed the file shortly after the suit against Spectrum Care Academy Inc., settled in October. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Spectrum requested the sealing of the file.

Stephen L. Hixson, the attorney for the estate of the dead girl, told Weddle at a hearing on Tuesday that the public has the right to see the file, but Weddle said he would seal it.

Spectrum’s attorney, Michael A. Goforth, told Weddle the file contains details that should not be publicly available, such as financial information and names of young patients.

Weddle cut off additional arguments from Hixson, telling the attorney to put his claims in writing or appeal.

What is known about Heaven’s View Christian Boarding Academy

What is known about Heaven’s View Christian Boarding Academy?

It look like a Roloff facility but we cannot be sure. It is located around Wayneville, MO.

From our data sheet (not finished):

Communication
No contact with the detainees the first 30 days. After this period of isolation the detained girls may receive calls from home every two weeks. But the right to calls can be revoked if the staff orders it. There is no info whether the phone calls are monitored.

Parents are allowed to visit their daughter after 3 months. However the visits can also be terminated by decisions of the staff.

Home visits are decided by the staff [1].

Education
The facility uses the Accelerated Christian Education (A.C.E.) workbook curriculum provided by School of Tomorrow [2]. School of Tomorrow requires that just one person in an entire school be “certified” to use the curriculum. This certification is NOT from any state agency. It is issued by School of Tomorrow. This enables schools to use the curriculum without having any certified teachers by the State.

Religious
The detainees are mandated to attend the church – Grace Covenant Christian Center – the facility works with regardless of their religious belief.