Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe is pleased to announce the County’s Safe Surrender Program celebrated success again with the report of another safely surrendered newborn. This most recent report of a safe surrender occurred at a hospital in the City of Huntington Park.
The newborn Hispanic male was surrendered on Tuesday, January 15 and is reported to be in good health. Reportedly, the infant’s mother gave birth on January 13 at another hospital and she considered voluntary relinquishment. However, the infant’s mother changed her mind and took her baby home. Later that day, the mother brought the infant to the urgent care in Huntington Park and asked to safely surrender the infant.
Although the surrender occurred on Tuesday, the confirmation was just received today. It is normal for surrenders to take several days to be verified under the rules of the program. As is standard practice, the baby boy is in protective custody and will be placed with a family approved for adoption by the Department of Children and Family Services.
This is the second Safe Surrender in Los Angeles County in 2008, and the 64th since the program began seven years ago. The program was initiated by Supervisor Knabe and approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors in 2001. 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.