Nebraska law allows abandonment of teens

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Nebraska law allows abandonment of teens
13
Tue, 08-26-2008 - 7:39pm


Nebraska law allows abandonment of teens
‘Safe-havens’ potentially permit parents to drop off kids as old as 19

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-27-2008
Mon, 09-15-2008 - 7:30pm

I have a 14 year old with major depression and a 12 year old who is bipolar.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Tue, 09-16-2008 - 12:50am

So who pays for this? Does the hospital eat the cost? Does the insurance of the child? Do the parents? Or does the city/state/county?

2 nights in the hospital isn't cheap.

Just wondering.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-31-2001
Tue, 09-16-2008 - 11:33am

The way our respite program currently works is that parents pay a sliding scale fee per hour for respite hours used (my family pays the maximum, $2.50 per hour) and then the rest is paid for with a combination of donations and matching funds from the state's human services budget. Our respite program is run by a non-profit organization and funded by donations, fund raisers, and partnerships with local thrift stores. If I was seriously in crisis and needed a break, I wouldn't have a problem paying for it, either out of pocket or from my insurance.

For the disabled population, this would actually be a major cost savings. If a family gets so overwhelmed they decide that residential care is the only option, they would (most likely) sign over parental rights to the state who would then have to pay for the cost of residential care which would be significantly more expensive than a couple nights of emergency care.

~~Veronica

VJ-Sig

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