I've been reading about the Nebraska law and the consequences. It occurs to me that the people who are dropping off their older kids are parents who care, but can't cope. A story in Sunday's paper mentioned one mother who brought her kid, all his medications (which implies some significant problems), and stayed to make sure he was comfortable and would be taken care of.
What's scary are the people who don't care enough to make any kind of effort, even of leaving their kids someplace they'll be taken care of.
And, in NJ when I was growing up, girls who were handed over the the state (PINS - persons in need of supervision) were dumped into the state mental asylum.