IL - Matisha Goens charged with abandoning baby, Chcago, 1 Jan 2010

[Cubby]

http://www.wbbm780.com/Details-emerge-in-abandoned-baby-case/6049825

"According to state officials, the baby never should have been with the mother to begin with...

"...State officials say the child was turned over to the father - with the condition that the mother would not have access to the child."

Child now in foster care.

Very strange!

I'm still not sure why if the child is under 30 days old there will be no investigation as to whether or not it was really a parent who dropped the baby off, whether or not the other parent is out there and wondering where the child is, what the baby's medical history may be, etc., but if the child is OLDER than 30 days it WILL be investigated. On one hand this particular baby's mother does sound like she needs to be investigated. On the other hand, IMO the handling of this case unintentionally encourages unstable parents to do the unthinkable rather than leave their children somewhere safe or try to get help.

I'm glad the baby is in foster care. Sounds like neither of this childs bio parents were capable for properly caring for this child.

As to the why a state would not investigate if a child is anonymously dropped off within the 30 day state limit, I think if a child was dropped off by a person other than the legal parents a child would be reported missing in most cases. I think there has to be an age limit of some kind. The option always exists to contact a social worker and put the child up for adoption legally. The safe haven laws were designed as an option for unwanted pregnancies not for parents who later decide they wish to give the child up for adoption. While I may not agree with it, I think there has to be some limit. However 90 days might be a better option....

jmo

 

[angelmom]

Can I just ask, if the baby was supposed to be with the father, why it took so long for an ID?

Was she not reported missing by the father? Did he not recognize the pictures circulating of his own child? Or did he allow his daughter to be with her mother when, apparently, it was not in the baby's best interest?

And if he did allow that, was he not in touch with the mother and worried about the baby on the news?

Sounds like DFCS needs to be involved on a higher level with BOTH parents. That poor baby!

 

[EGirl]

i see so there's actually a state, if i recall, where you can literally anbandon 16 year olds at a hospital and get away with it now......but drop a 6 month baby off at the police station instead of in a dumpster or the middle of the street, and that's criminal.
this is a messed up world.

that was Nebraska who wasn't very careful with the language in their safe haven law and it had people literally driving from all over the country to drop off their kids...all the way to 17 year olds.

they have since changed that law to apply to infants only.

 

[BuzzieCat]

I thought I read that this woman was supposed to have some kind of court date on Wednesday but can't find anything. Maybe they are keeping it a secret now because the baby is of course a minor and they have released her picture, thus sort of compromising her privacy?

 

[Texas Mist]

A crime — or cry for help?

In her blue, jail-issue uniform, Matisha Goens, 28, appeared in Domestic Violence Court last week, her head down and her voice barely audible.

Her alleged crime? Leaving her 8-month-old daughter at a South Side police station, wearing a pink jacket and wrapped in a Winnie the Pooh blanket. Officers found the baby New Year’s Day, taking in all the activity from her stroller.

Though the girl appeared well cared for, she is beyond the age in which parents can relinquish babies anonymously and without fear of prosecution, causing some to wish for more discretion and others saying that support, not legislation, is a better way to address abandoned children.

On Jan. 4, Goens was arrested at her Chicago home in the 7000 block of South Crandon Avenue and charged with misdemeanor child neglect. In September, Goens was picked up on a similar charge when police allegedly found the same girl — now with her father — alone in a car at a Department of Motor Vehicles facility.

“On one hand, this child is well past” the legal limit of one month, said police Lt. Laurel Bresnahan, part of a Special Victims Unit on the case. “On the other hand, we see kids who have been hideously abused … and this is exactly what you want a parent to do.”

But where to draw the line? Do you praise or punish a mother who shows that the all-consuming task of parenthood is beyond her capabilities? And does charging Goens with a crime undermine the goal of the Safe Haven Law, which is to prevent babies from being abandoned on a doorstep or a trash bin?
....
Delores Scott Goens doesn’t know if her daughter was aware of the recent change in the law, but she would like to see the age limit raised to one year, to help new mothers who are overwhelmed.

She’d also like to see Ava Arie remain with her father, but with some kind of joint custody arrangement for her daughter, who will remain in jail at least until her next court date Tuesday.

Whatever happens, she is certain that prosecution is not the answer.

“What she needs is treatment … and to accept that she has an illness.”



more here

http://chicagopressrelease.com/press-releases/a-crime-or-cry-for-help?

 

[Missizzy]

Thanks for the update, Texas Mist. And bless Matisha for not harming her child. I understand that she broke the law but she kept her baby safe. That counts in my book. The absolutely heart-wrenching issue here is mental illness. Matisha is the prime age for onset of a number of mental illnesses. With a support system, I have hope that she can get on appropriate meds and into therapy and work toward some sort of reunification with her child--whatever is safe and best for little Ava. Matisha must be suffering beyond all our understanding.

 

[kbl8201]

still dont get this.
she left her at a police station where she knew people would take care of her...........not in a stinking dumpster like so many others do.
i know she was 8 months old but this is ridiculous.

 

[jjenny]

still dont get this.
she left her at a police station where she knew people would take care of her...........not in a stinking dumpster like so many others do.
i know she was 8 months old but this is ridiculous.

Pardon me if I won't admire someone for not living their baby in the "stinking dumpster."

 

[jjenny]

that was Nebraska who wasn't very careful with the language in their safe haven law and it had people literally driving from all over the country to drop off their kids...all the way to 17 year olds.

they have since changed that law to apply to infants only.

One man left a whole bunch of his kids, and last I heard his girlfriend was expecting twins. And authorities couldn't even charge him with abandonment of his older children because of that loophole they had in their law.

 

[kbl8201]

Pardon me if I won't admire someone for not living their baby in the "stinking dumpster."

i didnt say we should admire her

 

[1000Sparks]

The rest of us knew what you meant.
I think this women did the right thing......

I hope the mom finds peace. Maybe she felt she had no where to go. I think it was a fine way of coping with whatever problem she has.

 

[Missizzy]

I like to think that we all have a card we carry around called the "Common Sense" card. It doesn't always jive with the law. Matisha broke the law. I think we all agree on that fact. However, she used a great deal of common sense (while in the throes of some sort of mental crisis) by leaving her child at a police station and making verbal contact with a person there to notify them of the presence of the child and by dressing the baby appropriately.

I can think of literally hundreds of mothers who've not used that level of common sense or decency. We have thread right here on WS for their dead children.

kbl, you're right on. I don't admire what she did either but my heart goes out to her and I, as a mother, understand. The ball is in her court to decide what steps she takes next for her own life and whether she wants to work to reunify with her beautiful child. Only Matisha knows the answer to that question.