While it is sobering to admit, there are times that mothers will abandon their infants in the hospital. Maybe the mother did not want to a baby in the first place, and was not able to find an adoptive family. Other times the mother may not survive the pregnancy, and leave behind a child with no discernible father or close relatives. Whenever a baby is left in a hospital without parents or family to care for him or her, the child is taken under the Abandoned Infants Assistance Act of 1988. This act authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to public and nonprofit organizations and entities for demonstrations projects.
According to the Abandoned Infant Protection Act of New York, a legally responsible adult is permitted to leave his or her infant (a child equal to or less than five days old) in a safe place. The adult must intend that the child stay safe from physical injury, and be cared for in an appropriate manner. This makes hospitals the perfect location to abandon an unwanted child, especially if that child has a medical condition. Parents who give up their child at the hospital do not automatically lose their rights as guardians, in most states. For example, in New York, parents may reclaim their child after the initial abandonment.
Still, many parents never do search for their child and repossess him or her in the future. That is way the Abandoned Infants Assistance Act of 1988 was put into action. These projects intend to prevent the abandonment of babies in hospitals, and to identify the needs of the children who are left behind. Many times these children have an autoimmune disease, such as AIDS and will need medical care. The Act allows the Secretary of Health and Humans Services to assist children with these autoimmune disorders and to give them foster families when needed or place them with caring relatives when possible. If the child is put in a foster family, then this Act requires that the family is recruited, and trained legally. A social worker is normally hired to work with the foster parents, and help them to connect with their new infant.
The law can also retain foster families when necessary. American laws also put emphasis on carrying out residential care programs for the children who are struggling with AIDS and life as an orphan. The Act also establishes respite care programs for families and social services so that they can work with the children who are inflicted with AIDS and help their caretakers to deal with the issue. The U.S. authorities can also recruit and train health personnel to work with AIDS infants and labor with social services personnel to monitor foster care homes.
When a grant fund is expended for foster care, the Act declares that the case plan and case review system be employed for the child in consideration. This sets forth agreement and application requirements, which a foster family must adhere to in order to take on the child. The Federal government will provide technical assistance for applicants who need aid. The Secretary is compelled to provide for evaluations of projects and to monitor and sign contracts regarding what is happening with abandoned infants in America.
Along with all of these requirements established by the Abandoned Infants Assistance Act, the Act also commanded the current Secretary to determine the approximate number of young infants and young children who are abandoned in hospitals in the U.S. and the subset of abandoned children with AIDS. Then the Secretary must estimate the annual costs of the Federal State, and Local governments that are amassed by providing housing and health care for these orphaned children.
In addition to all of this, the Secretary at the time this Act was established was told to determine cost-effective methods for providing care to people who have AIDS and to find out how much health insurance would cost for people with this type of condition. The Secretary was told to figure out the extent to which Federal Medicaid payments could help with the costs of this care, and decipher the Federal payments that would be spent on such costs after the Act was in action.