UPDATE: SAFE HAVENS FOR ABANDONED INFANTS
October 21, 2003
Forty-five states now have some type of safe haven legislation. (The following states do not have safe haven legislation: AK, HI (Vetoed 7/2/03), MA, NE and VT.) Most of the laws designate hospitals, emergency medical services, fire stations and police stations as safe locations. One exception is New York, which stipulates that the baby may be left with a suitable person or may be left in a suitable location so long as an appropriate person is promptly notified. Immunity is granted generally to employees who are required to accept and care for relinquished infants. About half of the states will not prosecute parents who relinquish unharmed infants. The remainder allows an affirmative defense to prosecution. State laws vary on the age of infants who may be relinquished. The ages range from 72 hours old or younger up to 5 days old or younger. The most common ages found in the statues are 72 hours and 30 days.
How Effective are the Laws?
Areas of Concerns for Policymakers
Need for Examination of Statewide Services for Women at Risk
Lack of a Comprehensive Strategy for the Prevention of Infant Abandonment
Anonymity and Termination of Parental Rights
Relationship to Existing Child Welfare Statutes
Father's Rights
Adoption
Parental Irresponsibility
How Effective are the Laws?
The laws continue to have a limited effect. A number of states have begun to report on infants abandoned after the passage of the safe haven legislation. As of September 2001, approximately 33 babies had been legally relinquished including five each in Texas, Michigan and Alabama, six in New Jersey, four in California, two in Connecticut, Minnesota and Ohio and one each in Kansas and South Carolina. The numbers are approximate because officials in several states reported that they are not officially tracking the numbers of infants or that they had unofficial media counts of infants. Officials in New York, West Virginia and Florida reported that they were not sure that any infants had been relinquished because their laws do not require reporting or tracking that information. As of September 2002, state agency officials in California report that they have had 20 infants abandoned through the law since their legislation went into effect. New Jersey reported 10 safe haven infants, a 63% reduction in infant abandonment, since the passage of their law in 2000 (compared to 8 abandonments prior to the passage of the law). Illinois reported 2 safe haven abandonments since their law was enacted in 2001.
Unlawful abandonment continues to be a problem. As of September 2001, Texas reported at least 12 infants had been abandoned illegally since the passage of its law, but the abandonments occurred before the start of a public awareness campaign. None have been abandoned outside safe havens since this publicity. Louisiana reported that five infants had been abandoned illegally since passage of its law. Three babies died, and the parents were prosecuted. At least five babies were illegally abandoned in California; two more of them were found dead. In Connecticut, one baby was discarded near a highway. Three babies had been abandoned illegally in Colorado. In one case, the mother attempted to regain custody. Michigan reported nine attempts including one in which a judge ruled that the case was not a safe haven surrender because the parents had not been given enough information on their legal rights. As of September 2002, California reported 21 illegal abandonments and 17 infants abandoned found deceased. Illinois reported four infants illegally abandoned and found deceased. Illinois averaged 25 illegal abandonments over the previous four-year period.
Areas of Concerns for Policymakers
Child welfare experts, state agency officials and state lawmakers continue to examine a number of critical issues related to infant safe haven legislation:
Need for Examination of Statewide Services for Women at Risk
Many child welfare experts state that, although safe haven legislation may be a good idea, it needs to be part of a larger effort to enhance services for women who are at risk of abandoning their infants. Experts from the fields of child welfare, mental health, youth services, the medical establishment and teen pregnancy will want to work with young parents to examine the existing system of services. Such an examination might provide some answers about why this population of parents is unable -or unwilling- to use these services.
Lack of a Comprehensive Strategy for the Prevention of Infant Abandonment
Critics are concerned that states are not viewing safe haven programs as an integral part of child abuse prevention. Has infant abandonment been considered in the state's child abuse prevention efforts? Does the strategy target young women at risk of abandonment? These are just a few questions policymakers may want to ask as they work with public health, child protection, child abuse prevention, mental health, families and others to develop a comprehensive strategy to prevent infant abandonment.
Anonymity and Termination of Parental Rights
Child welfare experts are apprehensive that the anonymity provided to parents in the safe haven laws conflicts with biological parents' due process rights in termination of parental rights proceedings. As previously mentioned, states have attempted to address this critical issue by providing some type of notice or search for the biological parents of the abandoned infant in an effort to include them in judicial proceedings related to the adoption of the infant. States will want to carefully examine their termination of parental rights statutes to avoid conflicts with safe haven laws.
Relationship to Existing Child Welfare Statutes
Likewise, states may want to examine all their existing statutes related to adoption, paternity, custody and all judicial proceedings associated with child abandonment. It also is important that states clarify their definitions of infant abandonment. For example, several states with new laws exempt safe haven abandonment from the statutory definition of abandonment, child abuse or child neglect. Other states add safe haven abandonment to their existing definition of abandonment.
Father's Rights
A few states require a check of the putative father registry and include provisions to contact the putative father, but most do not contain provisions to address notification of fathers who may not be aware of the child's birth. Critics contend that denying notification unfairly presumes that these fathers do not want to care for their children. Utah's legislation addresses this concern by requiring a search of the confidential registry for unmarried biological parents and requiring that notice be sent to each potential father identified in the registry. The termination of parental rights hearing must be scheduled as soon as possible if no one has identified himself as the father (or if the mother has not identified herself) within two weeks after notice is complete. If a non-relinquishing parent is not identified, the surrender of the newborn shall be considered grounds for termination of parental rights of both parents.
Adoption
Adoption advocates are particularly concerned about the lack of medical and family history. They note that a lack of information about their backgrounds is often troublesome for adopted children and worry about the stability of the child and his or her adopted family later in life. They fear that the lack could be a setback to the trend in adoption policy to provide the adoptee with information about the birth family. Adoption and other child welfare experts also point out that the legislation may not be necessary because most states will not prosecute women who give birth and relinquish their newborns in the hospital. Additionally, every state allows women to voluntarily relinquish their infants for adoption.
Parental Irresponsibility
Many policymakers are concerned that these laws may only encourage parental irresponsibility. Since so little is known about the women who abandon their babies, there is no proof that the legislation will discourage mothers from leaving their infants in unsafe places. For women who might otherwise seek help from family, friends and social service agencies, the enactment of safe haven laws might encourage them to anonymously abandon their newborns rather than take advantage of their traditional network of support.
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