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MARCH 31, 2008
Long Beach Hospital Receives Safely Surrendered Newborn
Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe is pleased to announce that a baby girl was safely surrendered at a hospital in the City of Long Beach yesterday.
The newborn Hispanic female was surrendered at a hospital in Long Beach and was reported to be in good health. As is standard practice, the baby girl is in protective custody and will eventually be placed with a family approved for adoption by the Department of Children and Family Services.
“I want to thank this newborn’s 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. It is still our goal that 2008 will be the first year with no abandoned newborns.”
This is the fifth Safe Surrender in Los Angeles County in 2008 and the 67th Safe Surrender 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.
MARCH 6, 2008
Newborn Safely Surrendered In Woodland Hills
Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe announced today that a baby was safely surrendered in at a hospital in Woodland Hills on Friday, February 29.
The newborn Hispanic female was born full tem and is in good health. Although the surrender occurred on Friday, it is normal for surrenders to take several days to be verified under the rules of the program. 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.
This is the fourth Safe Surrender in Los Angeles County in 2008, and the 66th 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.
“Another mother has done the right thing and saved her baby’s life,” said Supervisor Knabe. “There is no reason to abandon a child since we have a law that allows a mother to anonymously get her baby into safe hands with no questions asked.”
FEBRUARY 22, 2008
Knabe Will Once Again Oppose Legislation That Will Negatively Impact The Safe Surrender Program
Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe renewed his opposition for the third time to new legislation by Assemblyman Alberto Torrico (D-Fremont) that will fundamentally alter the rules of the highly-successful Safe Haven Law.
Under the proposed legislation, AB 2262 will extend the newborn surrender period to 7 days. Currently, the program allows mothers of unwanted newborns to surrender their babies at Safe Surrender sites, such as Fire Stations and Hospitals, up to 72 hours after the child’s birth. Access to quality medical care in the first hours of life is a critical component that could be placed in jeopardy if this legislation passes. Many infants who are safely surrendered have received no prenatal care or medical care at all – services that are critical for these newborns to receive in the first hours after birth. Extensive research has shown that the 72 hour window works.
A similar bill was also introduced during the two most recent Legislative sessions. Last year, AB 81 would have extended the window to 7 days. It was later vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. The first attempt, AB 1873, was also vetoed by the Governor in 2006.
“This was an unnecessary bill the first two times, and it remains unnecessary,” said Supervisor Knabe, who championed the Safe Surrender Program, the Los Angeles County version of the Safe Haven Program, over six years ago. “There is no data showing that an extension to the 7 days proposed in Assemblyman Torrico’s legislation would improve this successful program, and we cannot allow an arbitrary number with no scientific basis to compromise the safety of these babies. The only window that has irrefutable evidence is the 72 hours, and changing it is a risk that we simply cannot afford. I vow to fight this bill every step along the way.”
Los Angeles County has been at the forefront of implementing the Safe Haven Law. Since its enactment in 2002, 65 babies have been safely surrendered in Los Angeles County – more than one-third of all the newborns saved in California.
FEBRUARY 11, 2008
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.
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The Safe Surrender Program, based on the statewide Safe Haven Law, was developed and championed by Supervisor Don Knabe and unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2001.
The purpose of Safe Surrender is to protect newborns from being hurt or killed because of abandonment. Safe Surrender allows a parent or legal guardian to confidentially handover an infant, three days old or younger, to any hospital emergency room or other designated Safe Surrender site.
As long as the baby has not been abused or neglected, the person may surrender the baby without fear of arrest or prosecution for child abandonment. As of September 2007, 60 newborns have been surrendered in Los Angeles County. |
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Click on a dot on the map of Los Angeles County above to find out more information about each safe surrender.
