The number of newborns safely surrendered in Los Angeles County in 2006 grew again today. Supervisor Don Knabe, who led the formation of the Safe Surrender Program, announced today that a baby girl was handed over early this morning at Women’s and Children’s Hospital near downtown Los Angeles.
The newborn girl was healthy at the time of her surrender and will be placed with an adoptive family by the Department of Children and Family Services. This morning’s Safe Surrender is the 8th in 2006 and the 44th since the program began in Los Angeles County.
I am thrilled this mother made the right choice for this baby girl, but the media also deserves much of the credit for the success of Safe Surrender, said Supervisor Knabe. Without the ongoing commitment of our local media to talk about Safe Surrender and to tell mothers they have a confidential solution that gives these newborns a chance at life, this program would not be nearly as successful as it is.
Safe Surrender allows someone to surrender an infant at hospitals or any fire station in Los Angeles County up to three days after the baby’s birth, as long as the baby shows no signs of abuse. Supervisor Don Knabe championed the formation of the County’s Safe Surrender Program.
Today’s surrender is the third in the last two weeks. A newborn girl was surrendered to paramedics in Compton on May 5 and a baby boy was surrendered at a West Covina Hospital on May 12.