Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe is pleased to announce the County’s Safe Surrender Program celebrated success for the third time in the month of May with the report of a safely surrendered newborn. This most recent safe surrender occurred on May 31, 2011 at a hospital in Torrance.
The mother gave birth to the baby girl at the hospital and asked to surrender the infant. As is standard practice, the baby girl is in protective custody and will be placed with a family approved for adoption by the Department of Children and Family Services.
“I am incredibly pleased to learn of our third Safe Surrender in the month of May,” said Supervisor Knabe. “While these situations could end in disaster, instead we are given hope that an infant will have a healthy and happy life. I am confident that as word continues to spread about Safe Surrender, mothers in desperate situations will see that secure and anonymous options are available for them and their babies.”
This is the third Safe Surrender in Los Angeles County in 2011, and the 86th since the program began ten 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.