Lessons Out Of Nebraska

(To Aud: If you read this it will make you mad)

Laws can do a number of different things both expected and not. We expect laws to promote social stability and to achieve specific governmental aims and goals. And when this happens we are generally pleased. On the other hand, the passage of laws can result in unintended consequences and can inform us that a problem is much more far reaching than we had expected. In these cases we should learn from the results of our actions and find ways to better or more completely address the problems that we seek to fix.

Take for example Nebraska’s recently passed Safe-Haven Law. In July of this year the state enacted the statute that “decriminalized leaving unharmed infants with statutorily designated private persons so that the child becomes a ward of the state”. Basically, the state sought to provide parents with an alternative to abortion or continuous neglect, and to allow them to instead turn over their children to the state. But what lawmakers failed to anticipate was what the eventual impact of their statute would be.

Instead of receiving Nebraska-newborns, the state was quickly handed a number of out-of-state children that were generally much older than toddlers. Mostly around the ages of ten to twelve, these children were abandoned by parents from states such as Georgia and Florida who basically said that they just couldn’t care for their children anymore, either because of financial problems or because of behavioral issues.

Now the state is working quickly to change the wording of the law in order to create an age limit for the children that are dropped off into its care. The revamped statute will restrict the eligible children to toddlers, and therefore limit the scope of the law to its intended target of unwanted newborns. However, my interest is not necessarily in what will become of the statute, but instead on what its brief lifespan has shown us about the state of our childcare system.

While we spend so much time, energy, and money arguing about the question of abortion and Roe v. Wade, we focus very little national attention on how to better improve the surrounding infrastructure that contributes to raising our children. If nothing else, what this statute has shown is that there are a number of parents out there who cant seem to get by. Maybe its laziness or selfishness on their part, and maybe its not. Or maybe its somewhere between the two extremes. In any case, the fact is that many parents feel unable to provide basic care to their children.

I wonder if we might be better served putting off our debate about abortion and instead on focusing our efforts first on improving our society’s capacity to better raise children. Lets argue about how to provide wages that allow parents to not have to work two or three jobs in order to pay the bills, and that therefore allow them to participate in their child’s life. Lets figure out how to reverse rising trends of divorce and re-instill a stronger sense of family values. To eliminate crime and gangs that threaten to derail the upbringing of even the most potentially successful youth. Lets revamp our foster care system in order to address the psychological and practical needs of adopted children, and lets figure out how to reduce the prevalence of teen pregnancies.

Statistically, these are the factors that significantly impact a child’s potential for success later in life, and so they should be the focus of our national dialogue. Lets lay that foundation before we fight back and forth about abortion. Fighting the same fight again and again gets us nowhere, and it limits us to simply trying to determine what to due with the result of the problem, not the cause of it.

Improving society’s emphasis on childcare is not an easy task. It requires improvement on the part of the government and the individual. It necessitates a change of mentality and a new approach. But, it will at least offer the potential for creating change; something that fighting the same perpetual battle does not.

The problem is far too large for any one state to fight on its own, and so Nebraska will soon institute the age limit necessary to limit its own exposure to it. This is understandable. But, for the brief time period in which this law has been in effect without such a limit, it has shown us that the state of childcare in this country remains far from perfect.