July 02 -- A Decatur Township fire station near Indianapolis is scheduled to become the latest location in Indiana to receive a “Safe Haven Baby Box,” but the department has received its first infant even before installation.
Sunday evening a young parent safely surrendered a healthy newborn to the department under Indiana’s Safe Haven Law, which allows people to anonymously surrender their healthy newborns at any fire station without fear of prosecution.
As announced earlier this month, Decatur Township Fire Station No. 74 at 3750 S. Foltz St. is set to become Indiana’s third location for a Safe Haven Baby Box after the Indiana General Assembly passed a bill this year allowing fire stations that are staffed 24 hours a day to install the boxes. The law went into effect Sunday, but installation for the Decatur Township department has taken longer than anticipated due to permit requirements and construction.
There are currently two fire stations in Indiana equipped with Safe Haven Baby Boxes: Coolspring Township Volunteer Fire Department in La Porte County and Woodburn Fire Department in Allen County.
Founded by Woodburn firefighter Monica Kelsey, the Safe Haven Baby Box organization staffs a 24-hour hotline (1-866-99BABY1) to give parents the opportunity to talk to a trained professional as they consider safely surrendering their baby. The hotline did receive calls Sunday regarding locations of baby boxes in the state of Indiana.
“Even though the Safe Haven Baby Box is not yet installed at Decatur Township Fire Station No. 74, this brave parent chose to hand their newborn over to firefighters at this location knowing they could choose that option under Indiana’s long-standing Safe Haven Law,” Kelsey said in a statement. “we want to personally thank this young parent who so bravely chose to surrender their unharmed newborn to firefighters. We know that education and awareness around the Safe Haven Laws and Safe Haven Baby Boxes save lives.”
The Woodburn station was the first in Indiana to receive a baby box when it was installed in 2016.
The Fort Wayne Fire Department won’t be installing baby boxes. The department’s 18 fire stations are staffed 24 hours a day, and the department has protocols for firefighters to take children of any age and get them needed care, said Deputy Chief Adam O’Connor.
Meanwhile, Allen County Right to Life has placed four billboards around Fort Wayne to notify mothers of Indiana’s Safe Haven laws and baby boxes. The organization worked with marketers to strategically target areas of the city, including college campuses, where pregnant women or mothers of newborns could potentially be struggling for options.
“Allen County Right to Life has long supported the life-saving work of Safe Haven Baby Boxes,” Executive Director Cathie Humbarger, said in a statement. “We wish all children were born into healthy situations, but we recognize that tragic circumstances have caused women to both legally and illegally abandon their children. Safe Haven Baby Boxes are helping women in those desperate situations and saving them from a lifetime of regret.”
Lisa M. Esquivel Long of News-Sentinel.com contributed to this report.
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