County addresses baby abandonment County addresses baby abandonment (December 03, 2004)

Board identifies 'safe surrender' sites

The Board of Supervisors approved a series of recommendations last week regarding a long-term plan to prevent mothers from abandoning newborn babies, according to county spokesperson Gwen Mitchell.

The creation of the Safe Haven Task Force was approved on Aug. 3. It consists of 120 members representing various organizations and all 15 cities in the county.

The task force's main charge is promoting the California Safely Surrendered Baby Law, which allows for a newborn baby to be dropped off at a hospital within 72 hours of birth, with no questions asked.

Mitchell said the task force approved the designation of all county fire stations as safe surrender sites, with some cities within the county following suit.

"Our goal is to eliminate the death of newborn infants due to abandonment,'' Supervisor Jim Beall said in a written statement. "The task force has done a phenomenal job in developing a blueprint to address this issue.''

Some of the recommendations issued today include developing multilingual brochures regarding the safe surrender law, building on the state's awareness campaign, and promoting more community partnerships.

The task force also recommended training all workers at safe surrender sites in how to receive a newborn child, convening all county hospitals to align surrender policies, and creating a standard logo for the campaign, according to Mitchell.
-- Bay City News

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