Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe announced this morning that a baby has been safely surrendered at a hospital in Long Beach. The newborn Caucasian boy was surrendered yesterday afternoon at Community Hospital of Long Beach. The baby is healthy and will be placed in an adoptive home by the Department of Children and Family Services.

I want to thank this mother for doing the right thing, said Supervisor Knabe. We have a law on the books to protect babies from abandonment and give the mother a safe, secure and anonymous way to get her child into safe hands.

The Safe Surrender Program in Los Angeles County was initiated by Supervisor Knabe and approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors in June of 2002. It allows someone to surrender an infant that is no more than three days old, as long as the infant shows no signs of abuse.

The newborn handed over at Community Hospital yesterday is the 40th safely surrendered baby since the program started and the fourth since the beginning of 2006.