How often do the baby boxes of the Tri-State get used?

HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – A Safe Haven Baby Box infant surrender recently happened at an Indiana fire station, according to officials with the Georgetown Township Fire Protection District.

According to the fire protection district, Fire Chief William Banta said the baby was surrendered to the baby box at the Georgetown Township Fire Station #1, which was installed in December of 2022. Safe Haven Baby Boxes said that the surrender is also the first time that particular baby box has been used since its installation.

How often do the baby boxes of the Tri-State get used?

What are baby boxes?

According to Safe Haven Baby Boxes, a “Baby Box” is a safety device provided for a state’s Safe Haven Law and legally permits a parent in crisis to safely, securely and anonymously surrender a baby if they are unable to care for their newborn.

Officials with the organization say a baby box is installed in the exterior wall of a designated fire station or hospital. It has an exterior door that automatically locks upon placement of a newborn inside the box and an interior door that allows a medical staff member to secure the surrendered newborn from inside the designated building.

Local fire officials explain there is also information located inside the baby box for the surrendering parent. If the surrendering parent is in need of medical care, personnel can immediately provide that care to the parent.

Where are the baby boxes?

Indiana

• Posey County
  • Mount Vernon Fire Department
    • 311 College Street, Mt Vernon
• Vanderburgh County
  • Evansville Fire Station #3
    • 310 N. Fourth Ave., Evansville
  • Evansville Fire Station #16
    • 2801 Washington Avenue, Evansville
  • Scott Township Fire and EMS Station 2
    • 12845 SR 57, Evansville
• Warrick County
  • Ohio Township Fire Department Headquarters
    • 3433 Libbert Road, Newburgh
  • Boonville Fire Department
    • 410 S 4th St., Boonville
• Spencer County
  • Ohio Township Volunteer Fire Department
    • 615 Sycamore St, Rockport
• Dubois County
  • Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center Ferdinand Ambulance Station
    • 202 E. 3rd Street, Ferdinand
• Gibson County
  • Princeton Fire Territory
    • 500 North Embree St., Princeton

Kentucky

• Muhlenberg County
  • Owensboro Health Muhlenberg EMS
    • 504 Doss Drive, Powderly
• Daviess County
  • Owensboro Fire Department, Station #1
    • 512 West 9th Street, Owensboro

Illinois

• There are no baby boxes in southeastern Illinois, but there are laws in place regarding infant surrender . According to Safe Haven Baby Boxes, the only option for infant surrender in Illinois is a face-to-face surrender, and only for babies who are up to 30 days old.
  • According to Child Welfare Information Gateway , a newborn infant may be relinquished to a:
    • Hospital
    • Police station, including a municipal police station
    • A county sheriff’s office
    • A campus police department located on any college or university
    • Any of the district headquarters of the Illinois State Police
    • Fire station
    • Emergency medical facility

Have any Tri-State babies been placed in a baby box?

Officials throughout the Tri-State say no babies have been surrendered to these boxes.

How did Tri-State organizations go about getting these boxes?

The costs and installation processes varied between the places that have baby boxes.

Vanderburgh County

Evansville Fire Department Chief Tony Knight explains there are costs associated with the install. These costs were paid by Right to Life at $5,800 each. Contracts had to be written and approved by the Safety Board, and policies had to be written and approved by the Local 357 and the Safety Board.

Spencer County

According to Ohio Township Trustee Chad Bennett, the township worked with Right to Life of Southwestern Indiana to purchase the box, which cost $10,000.

Warrick County

Boonville Fire Chief Steven Byers says the Safe Haven Baby Box, including installation, was approximately $15,000. The fire department was able to complete this project and provide this resource to the community because of a donation from Right to Life of Southwest Indiana.

Chief Byers explains officials began the process in early 2020 by reaching out to Safe Haven Baby Boxes to get information on their program. The Boonville Fire Department was in the process of building an addition to the fire station and wanted to integrate the Safe Haven Baby Box to provide a resource for mothers in crisis. That organization put the fire department in contact with Right to Life of Southwest Indiana to begin the planning and potential funding for the program.

According to Chief Byers, after extensive reviews, planning and a donation and partnership with Right to Life of Southwest Indiana, a contract was signed and the installation process began. Personnel received extensive training from Safe Haven Baby Boxes concerning the Safe Haven Law, operations and protocols for the Baby Box, and the testing phase was completed. Once the alarm and Baby Box testing were complete, the resource went live to the community.

Posey County

Safe Haven came and installed the baby box, although Mayor Stephen “Steve” Loehr of Mt. Vernon says he doesn’t have the details in regard to the process.

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