Nebraska's "Safe haven" law

NPR reports that most of the children who have been left at emergency rooms under Nebraska's new safe haven law are over eleven years of age. These children tend to have severe behavioral problems and/or psychiatric disorders. Many of the parents and guardians involved are handing their children over to foster care because they have no resources to get their children the help they need. The first comment posted about this story expresses outrage over the parents' callous behavior. The second commenter speaks to the dearth of services available to children with mental illness.

I have no idea what is really happening with these families in Nebraska, but I can say that when our family faced past crises, there was little-to-nothing available until we found the TSANJ and the psychology clinic at Rutgers. I would call clinics and hospitals, begging for help, only to be told "Well, we're kind of busy" (translation: It's Friday afternoon, and we wanted to leave early.) "We have an opening available in six months;" "We only see children over age eighteen (???);" "Your child is too complex/difficult/inconvenient for us to handle." It very literally took me almost six years to find anyone who could help us, and then we were fortunate enough to be able to pay out of our own pockets for whatever was needed.