After the discovery of these babies, the state's opinion on parents who couldn't care for their babies shifted, which is why there are safe haven laws today.
Baby Ephraim was a baby found dead outside a hospital emergency room on Jan. 26, 2000. He died of hypothermia.
While the parents clearly wanted their baby to receive the care he needed, it was determined that the fear of prosecution is what deterred the parents from handing their child directly to a nurse inside the hospital.
Indiana had been mulling legislation like many states across the country, but Ephraim's death would solidify their decision and on March 24, 2000, then-governor Frank O'Bannon signed the Indiana law .
Although the law didn't exist to help Ephraim, it should have saved Baby Jacob.
Just a year later, on Dec. 8, 2001, Jacob was found dead in a trashcan by workers outside a laundromat. He was wrapped in a sheet, several shopping bags and a trash bag. He still had his umbilical cord attached to his tiny body.
At this point, Indiana's Safe Haven law had been enacted for 18 months, but few people in Indianapolis knew. Jacob's death would change that by prompting a widespread awareness campaign.
Indiana's Safe Haven Law allows for the anonymous surrender of an infant 30 days old or younger without prosecution. Infants may be surrendered at fire departments, hospitals and emergency medical services stations. So long as there are no signs of intentional abuse or neglect, the person surrendering the child is not required to provide any information.
Developed by Monica Kelsey, who learned as an adult that she had been abandoned at a hospital after birth, safe haven baby boxes are devices installed in an exterior wall of fire stations or hospitals that allow for the anonymous surrender of an infant. The first box was installed at a fire station in Woodburn, Indiana, near Fort Wayne, in 2016.
The device is a two-way box, with a door inside and outside the building. The boxes are temperature controlled and programmed with several silent alarms to alert first responders. A silent alarm is triggered when the outside door is opened, when the baby is placed in the bassinet and again when the door is closed and automatically locked.
First responders retrieve the baby from inside the building and transport the infant to an area hospital for medical evaluation. The Department of Child Services then assumes custody of the child.
Do people actually use safe haven baby boxes?
Yes. In 2017 and 2018, babies were surrendered in a box at a Michigan City , Indiana, fire station. Delays in construction meant a box was still not ready when a baby was surrendered at Decatur Township Fire Department on Indianapolis' southwest side in 2018. The infant was found healthy.
In October of 2023, IndyStar reported that a baby box in Carmel was one of the most used in the country.
According to Kevin Albin from Safe Haven Baby Boxes, 2 babies have been surrendered via baby boxes in the state this year, with many more being surrendered directly to personnel using the national crisis hotline.
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