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Committee advances amendments to safe‑haven law to permit baby boxes and monitoring
Summary
Senator Cecile Bledsoe said amendments to the state's baby safe‑haven law add fire departments and permit baby boxes, with recommended weekly testing and twice‑daily checks; the committee voted to pass the amended measure.
Senator Cecile Bledsoe presented amendments to an existing baby safe‑haven statute originally enacted in 2001. She said the bill was amended to explicitly add fire departments to entities that may accept surrendered infants and to allow the use of baby boxes where appropriate. Bledsoe described operational safeguards that were added at the committee’s suggestion, including a proposed weekly test of the baby‑box alarm system and a visual check twice daily to ensure the alarm is working.
Bledsoe said she removed an awkward sentence modeled on Ohio law and answered a question about grandparents’ authority after a baby is accepted: once a baby is removed from a box an alarm notifies 9‑1‑1, the baby is taken to a hospital and thereafter is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Human Services, which would handle family issues such as grandparental custody.
There was no recorded opposition during committee comments. A motion to do pass was seconded and the committee voted "aye." The chair announced the bill will proceed out of committee.
