Safe Haven laws in place for parents in crisis

Jul. 15--Last week, the Colorado Safe Haven Law was brought into the light after an infant was dropped off by a man at a Canon City fire station.

The child was taken to Fire Station 1 in Canon City and was transported to the hospital from there. The baby now is in the custody of the Fremont County Department of Human Services under the Safe Haven Law. It was determined that there was no suspected criminal activity in the drop-off of the infant early on the morning of July 9.

The Colorado Safe Haven Laws were enacted in 2000. The law permits parents to surrender anonymously their newborn not older than 3 days to personnel at a fire station or hospital. Safe haven laws aim to provide parents in crisis a safe place to surrender their unwanted newborn.

"You have to hand the child over to an employee at the fire station," said Woody Percival, the public information officer for the Pueblo Fire Department, noting that a baby cannot simply be dropped off at the doorstep like it is sometimes portrayed in movies and television. "They do not at that point have to answer a single question. We'd hope they'd say how they are and give us family history or anything that would help the baby long-term, but they can literally just hand them to us and walk away."

So how often are babies that a parent feels it cannot provide care for dropped off under the law in Colorado, and has it ever happened in Pueblo?

The answer is it doesn't happen frequently, but enough that it's made a difference in the lives of dozens of babies who otherwise might have been left abandoned somewhere where nobody could see them and give them care and get them into child services.

According to the Colorado Safe Haven website, 51 babies have been safely relinquished in Colorado as of March 2016, the most recent data point available. Nationwide, there have been more than 3,000 babies saved by Safe Haven laws.

Percival said a baby was dropped off at a Pueblo fire station on the South Side in 2011, and the parent in that instance was in compliance with the Safe Haven Law and did not face any discipline for surrendering the newborn.

"As long as we can keep one kid from being left in a field somewhere, that's our goal," Percival said.

When Percival saw the story about the infant being dropped off in Canon City, he made it a point to release information about the Colorado Safe Haven Law on the fire department's social media channels.

"I just thought I need to put this out again just so people know this is a real possibility and stress the whole up to 72 hours requirement and there's no questions asked if you're doing it," he said.

Dena Rodriguez, who is the executive director of the Pueblo Child Advocacy Center, said she and the organization supports the Colorado Safe Haven Law and thinks it has been a good thing for individuals who feel they aren't ready for or can't handle parenthood.

"The law is actually designed to prevent any harm to a child, and so it just gives a parent a safe place to surrender their child without being prosecuted," Rodriguez said. "I would much rather see a parent drop their child off at a fire department or police station rather than being found in a lake or to go to that extreme."

rseverance@chieftain.com

Twitter: RyanS_Chieftain

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