EDITORIAL: Baby boxes provide a safe alternative
Apr. 26—When Howard County's first Safe Haven Baby Box was installed in June 2020, Kokomo Mayor Tyler Moore choked back tears as said during the dedication, "Saving one baby's life is worth the cost." The dedication of that baby box came 30 days after three infants across the U.S. had been safely surrendered in similar boxes, including one in Kosciusko County and another in Allen County.
And it was three years later, in July 2023, when one baby's life was saved in Howard County after a mother placed her 2-day-old in the box at Kokomo Fire Department's Station 1.
Safe Haven Baby Box founder and CEO Monica Kelsey — herself abandoned shortly after she was born — said 43 infants have been successfully surrendered since the organization's inception in November 2017.
The state's newest baby box was dedicated April 12 in Miami County. It is the 216th baby box in 20 states across the U.S. and the 120th in Indiana.
According to the Safe Haven Baby Box website, the device is provided under Indiana's Safe Haven Law, which legally "enables a person to give up an unwanted infant anonymously without fear of arrest or prosecution" as long as there are no signs of intentional abuse of the child.
The baby box is temperature-controlled and is placed in an exterior wall of a designated hospital or fire station, with a door that automatically locks when an infant is placed inside. There is also an alarm system attached to the box, which goes off within a few seconds to alert authorities of the infant.
Mariah Betz, assistant project coordinator for Safe Haven Baby Boxes, said at the dedication of the Peru box that while organizers always hope parents don't have to make the difficult decision of leaving an infant, they view those parents as "heroes" for making the best choice for their child.
"This option gives the 100% anonymity that these moms and dads need," she said. "Every time we install one, we always have the hope that the box is never used. We really do. But at the end of the day, it's here for parents that are in crisis and perhaps have no other resources. This then becomes their resource."
Kelsey agreed, adding that baby boxes are safe places for parents out of other options.
"The box is very important because it is a last-resort option for these moms," she said. "If they can't do anything else, and the next thing that they're going to do is place their child in a dumpster or trash can, we want them to be able to come here and get anonymity as long as their child is safe."
According to the Safe Haven website, Indiana has not had a death by illegal abandonment since the first baby box was made available in April 2016.
For each baby placed in the boxes comes a story of a life saved and a family created. One of the attendees at Peru's dedication last week was a toddler named Carson, who was there with his parents. Carson's story began when he was placed in a baby box at a Gary fire station. On Friday, he was with his parents, who adopted him in December.
"I'm just so thankful that his mom, or his dad, made that selfless decision for him," Carson's mother Anna said. "It was a great day for us, but I'm sure that it was one of the hardest decisions they've ever had to make. And it's also just a really good example, a visible physical example of how these are saving lives. It's an alternative to what could have been."
Some baby boxes might never be filled, but for those that are, it's another life saved.
