SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – A baby in Springfield was abandoned earlier this week in an apartment complex during one of the coldest nights of the season. Police are still looking for answers
Newborn baby found abandoned outside on Worthington Street in Springfield The baby boy was expected to be three weeks old when he was found by your neighbor. Each state has its own safe haven law to help in these situations. “It broke my heart, it was very saddening,” the neighbor says.
On Tuesday night Springfield police received a call of a baby boy left at an apartment complex especially in those cold temperatures Mayor Dominic Sarno said it was a blessing that a neighbor heard the cries, “My concern was for that little one and thank God that resident heard that baby crying because it was really really cold out.”
The Safe Haven laws were originally enacted in Texas in 1999 to keep children who are victims of child abandonment safe. Each state has different specifications for the Safe Haven law but in the state of Massachusetts, people have 7 days to legally and anonymously drop a baby off at a designated location.
In 2004 Massachusetts enacted its own Safe Haven Act, which allows a parent to legally surrender a newborn infant seven days old or younger at a Hospital, police station, or manned fire station without facing criminal prosecution
Springfield Fire Commissioner BJ Calvi told 22News, “Everybody’s a trained first responder, and everybody knows how to take care of, meet the basic needs of a child. if that happened we would immediately call the ambulance provider and contact social services and the police department to come to aid us with that.”
It is recommended a baby gets dropped off at a hospital for the best care, but all first responders can help. Commissioner Calvi said the most important piece of information is to not leave a child outside or abandon them. The police station, fire station, and hospitals are there to help.
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