Safe Place for Newborns

How to Start Safe Place for Newborns

1. Contact work
   1. Contact representatives from the following:
      1. County/District Attorney's office.
      2. Department of Social Services.
      3. Hospitals in the county.
         (Please note: “County Attorney” and “Department of Social Services” may be titled differently in different counties.)
         
   2. Call each of the offices above:
      1. Explain the program.
      2. Explain their particular role within “Safe Place.”
   3. County Attorney:
      1. Child abandonment is a crime.
      2. The County Attorney must agree not to prosecute a child left at a hospital emergency room.
      3. The name and telephone number of your County Attorney can be found in the government section of the white pages.
   4. Hospitals:
      1. Find out the names of the hospitals in your county.
      2. Call the hospital.
      3. When working with the hospitals, it is helpful to have representatives from different positions within the hospital: ER, Public Relations, Nurse Manager of Labor and Delivery, Hospital Administration.
      4. Hospitals already have standard procedures for working with abandoned children.
      5. These procedures may need to be modified to work with “Safe Place for Newborns”.
      6. Please see “Fairview Ridges Hospital Policy”.
   5. Social Services:
      1. Social Services already have standard procedures for working with abandoned children.
      2. These procedures may need minor adjustments to work with “Safe Place”.
      3. Please see “Safe Place Procedures: Social Services Procedures“ included with this packet.
2. Preliminary Meeting
   1. Meeting Attendees:
      1. County Attorney, and possibly his or her assistant.
      2. Representatives from the hospitals.
      3. Representatives from the Social Services Department.
      4. Other helpful professionals to have at initial meeting: Department of Public Health, local crisis center phone bank.
      5. Any other resources particular to your area that may help in getting the word out.
   2. If those in attendance aren't familiar with “Safe Place for Newborns” (SPN), provide information.
      1. Review information packet
      2. Review the SPN Key Tenets
   3. Action Steps
      1. Obtain agreement from County Attorney - The County Attorney must agree to not prosecute a mother who leaves her UNHARMED newborn at the emergency room of a hospital.
      2. The hospitals agree to receive the newborn, and to provide any needed medical care, while protecting the identity of the mother.
      3. The hospitals also agree to absorb any cost incurred.
      4. Social Services agrees to assume custody of the child.
      5. Hospitals, Social Services, and other organizations already have procedures in place for caring for abandoned children.
      6. “Safe Place for Newborns” simply focuses those procedures to care for a newborn who might otherwise be abandoned.
      7. If the child has been deliberately harmed, the guarantees of anonymity and freedom from prosecution no longer apply.
      8. Focus your mission: how old can the baby be and still be received into “Safe Place?” Will the baby be received only at hospitals?
         (Please note: Some of the Action Steps have already happened prior to the meeting - you are simply reviewing publicly what you have been told in your individual meetings with the program participants.)
         
3. Going Forward
   1. At the preliminary meeting, brainstorm - what other community organizations can help get the word out about “Safe Place for Newborns?”
   2. At the preliminary meeting, obtain statistics from the County Attorney regarding infant deaths.
      1. Research national stories.
      2. Keep newspaper articles about abandoned newborns.
      3. See the link  What are we Learning about Newborn Abandonment?  This page will be updated frequently with information that you may find helpful as you go forward.
   3. Most important component in going forward:
      1. When leaving the preliminary meeting, every person in attendance must KNOW WHY YOU ARE STARTING SAFE PLACE FOR NEWBORNS.
      2. The press will want to know what you are doing, why you are doing it, and if child abandonment is “a big problem.”
   4. Learn from others:
      1. No need to reinvent the wheel - “Safe Place” the simply builds a bridge between the resources available in a community with a young woman who may need them.
      2. No need to create new resources.
      3. Make use of the Safe Place for Newborns Website: www.safeplacefornewborns.com
      4. We will have samples of letters of contact, press releases, and other items you may find helpful when starting Safe Place for Newborns in your own area.
4. Legislation
   1. In the State of Minnesota, legislation may soon be passed that will make Safe Place for Newborns a statewide program.
      1. The legislation says that no one in the state of Minnesota who brings an unharmed newborn to a hospital emergency room with the intent of leaving it there will be prosecuted for abandonment or neglect.
      2. The legislation says that hospitals may receive an unharmed newborn without attempting to obtain the identity of the mother, or contacting police.
   2. If this legislation passes, it will still be important to work with representatives from the County Attorney's office, the hospitals, and the Social Service Department.
      1. It is a professional courtesy.
      2. Their help can greatly expedite your efforts.

Map will direct you to Safe Haven laws in other states.