At a special meeting April 26, the Springfield Township trustees approved the purchase of a Safe Haven baby box.
Fire Chief Barry Cousino has been researching the purchase for several months, and requested approval prior to May 1 due to a price increase. The box will cost $10,000 plus installation with a $200 annual fee, he explained.
“The box will be the first of its kind in Lucas County and our area,” he said, noting the closest drop box right now is in Defiance.
Baby boxes are a safety device that legally permit mothers in crisis with a safe, secure and anonymous way to surrender an infant.
The box will be installed on the exterior of a fire station, and the unit’s outside door automatically locks after placing a newborn inside.
A notification will alert firefighters to the infant, and an interior door opens so they can reach the baby from inside the fire station.
According to Safe Haven’s website, reports of infant abandonment and deaths of infants from abandonment throughout the country continue even with Safe Haven laws in every state for the past two decades.
Ohio first passed the law in 2001 for newborns less than 72 hours old. The law has since been amended to increase to 30 days the time period during which a parent may legally abandon a child.
The fire chief believes the boxes provide an additional layer of anonymity for mothers who want to give up their babies, but are reluctant to do so in person for fear of recognition, the stigma associated with surrendering a child or prosecution due to ignorance or misunderstanding of the Safe Haven law.
Currently in the area, if a parent wants to surrender an infant, their choices are to turn the child over to a medical worker in a hospital, fire department or other emergency service organization, or a police officer at a law enforcement agency.
The trustees believe the box will be valuable to the region. “Thank you for all your work on this,” Trustee Andy Glenn said. ~Jane Maiolo
