Safe Surrender Program Off To A Successful Year

Just weeks into 2008, the Los Angeles County Safe Surrender Program is already off to another successful year with three newborns having already been safely surrendered. These recent surrenders also included the unique occurrence of two surrenders happening on the same day. With the three surrenders since the beginning of the year, a total of 65 newborns have now been safely surrendered since the program began in 2001.

The first surrender of 2008 was a baby girl who was brought to Los Angeles County Fire Station 20 in the City of Norwalk on January 9. She was the 63rd safely surrendered baby. Baby 64 was a newborn boy surrendered at an urgent care facility in the City of Huntington Park on January 20. That same day another baby girl was surrendered at a hospital in the City of Monterey Park.

This is not the first time multiple surrenders have happened on the same day. Last year, two babies were surrendered in different parts of the County on January 17, 2007. Two different surrenders also occurred on February 10, 2007.

The Los Angeles County Safe Surrender Program was initiated by Supervisor Don 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.