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Bakersfield proclaims February 2025 as Safely Surrender Baby Awareness Month
Summary
The City Council issued a proclamation recognizing the Safe Surrender Coalition and declared February 2025 as Safely Surrender Baby Awareness Month, citing the coalition's role in providing safe alternatives for newborns and recent county surrender statistics.
The Bakersfield City Council on Feb. 12 proclaimed February 2025 as Safely Surrender Baby Awareness Month and presented the proclamation to Safe Surrender Coalition representatives.
Mayor Karen Goh read the proclamation noting the state safe-surrender law and the local coalition's work to provide safe alternatives for newborn babies. The proclamation recognized "five infants safely surrendered in 2024" and "103 infants safely surrendered since the program's inception in Kern County in February 2008." The proclamation thanked government partners, nonprofits and private businesses that cooperate on the program.
Aaron Rogers, a member of the Safe Surrender Coalition, accepted the proclamation and said the program provides an alternative for women with unplanned pregnancies. "I personally have two friends who received a safely surrendered baby into their family, and I know what a difference this makes," Rogers said, adding that the program involves adoption agencies, public servants and nonprofit partners.
Why it matters: The proclamation highlights a county-level child-safety program recognized as preventing unsafe newborn abandonment by giving parents an option to surrender infants safely to hospitals or fire stations.
Ending: The council presented the proclamation and thanked the coalition for its ongoing work in Kern County.
