Safe Haven Baby Box: Child surrendered at Okolona fire station in Louisville
A child was surrendered this week at the Okolona Fire Station #1 via a Safe Haven Baby Box.
This is the second child dropped off in Kentucky in 2023, according to a press release sent from Chief Mark Little.
The first child surrendered in a baby box in one of Kentucky's 18 locations, occurred in Bowling Green in February.
The Kentucky legislature passed a Safe Haven Baby Box bill in 2021 that eliminated face-to-face interactions of a previous law, allowing infants less than 30 days old to be dropped off at fire stations, police departments or hospitals that are staffed 24 hours a day, according to previous reporting.
The Okolona location was also the first in the state to receive a baby box.
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"Each time this occurs we are so grateful for the trust the birth mother places in our organization and we are so pleased we had a system in place for a time such as this," Monica Kelsey, founder of the organization, said. "We are so proud of this birth mother for her sacrificial love for her sweet baby. Anonymous surrender changes lives and we know more than two lives will be positively impacted by this single safe surrender.”
Eleven children have been surrendered nationwide through baby boxes in 2023, the release said. Altogether, 32 babies have been "lovingly placed" in a baby box since 2017.
“We are thankful to the mother for entrusting the Okolona Fire Department’s Safe-Haven Baby Box in your time of crisis to keep this child safe," Deputy Chief Kenny Amback said.
When a parent surrenders a child in a Safe Haven Baby Box, an alarm sounds and the child is taken to the hospital to be evaluated, the release said. The child is then placed with a foster family.
More than 150 baby boxes have been set up in Indiana, Arkansas, Ohio, Kentucky, Florida, New Mexico, Tennessee,North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
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Safe Haven Baby Boxes is an organization "dedicated to providing anonymous surrender options for women in crisis circumstances," the release said. The organization also provides a 24-hour hotline and counseling on Safe Haven laws in the U.S.
The Associated Press contributed. Contact reporter Rae Johnson at RNJohnson@gannett.com. Follow them on Twitter at @RaeJ_33
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Safe Haven Baby Box at Okolona Fire Station #1
