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Infant Safe Havens

Infant Safe Haven Laws have been enacted as an incentive for mothers in crisis to safely relinquish their babies to designated locations where the babies are protected and provided with medical care until a permanent home is found.   Safe haven laws generally allow the parent, or an agent of the parent, to remain anonymous and to be shielded from prosecution for abandonment or neglect in exchange for surrendering the baby to a safe haven.

In most States with safe haven laws, either parent may surrender his or her baby to a safe haven.  Only the mother may relinquish her infant.  Someone who has the parent’s approval may take a baby to a safe haven for a parent.  The purpose of safe haven laws is to ensure that relinquished infants are left with persons who can provide the immediate care needed for their safety and well-being. To that end, approximately eight States require parents to relinquish their infants to a hospital.  The safe haven provider is required to accept emergency protective custody of the infant and to provide any immediate medical care that the infant may require.  

The provider is required to ask the parent for family and medical history information, and give the parent or parent’s information about the legal repercussions of leaving the infant and information about referral services.  Safe haven providers are given protection from liability for anything that might happen to the infant while in their care, unless there is evidence of major negligence on the part of the provider.

Once the safe haven provider has notified the local Child Welfare Department that an infant has been relinquished, the department assumes custody of the infant as an abandoned child.   The department has responsibility for placing the infant, usually in a preadoptive home, and for petitioning the court for termination of the birth parent’s parental rights.   Before the baby is placed in a preadoptive home,   It is required that the department request the local law enforcement agency to determine whether the baby has been reported as a missing child.

 There are procedures in place for a parent to reclaim the infant, usually within a specified time period and before any petition to terminate parental rights has been granted.  For more information, call:

Toll Free:   1-800 510-2229