Events

All Safe Haven Baby Boxes are electronically monitored and are equipped to notify 911 as soon as the outer door is open.  If there is no one in the building, no worries, 911 dispatch will dispatch the closest fire or police personal.  

How does the box work?

1. Parent opens the door to the baby box and a silent alarm is triggered and a call goes to dispatch.  

2. Parent places the baby in the bassinet. A sensor is located on the inside of the box that triggers a second call dispatch call.  

3. Parent can push a button or simply close the door, which sets off a third alarm and call to dispatch and locks the exterior door. 

4. Emergency personnel retrieves the baby from the inside, evaluates, and takes the baby to the hospital. 

• Saving the lives of infants is the ultimate goal, and we believe that it should not be measured by the amount of effort or by a monetary value, but instead by the quality and availability of resources made available to end abandonment and focus on those in crisis. 

• The final accounting is immaterial when compared to ensuring even just one of these children is provided the opportunity to live and thrive because a parent had an option for a safe surrender.  

• The expenses associated with the Safe Haven Baby Box program are typically supported by donations from individuals and other organizations in a community. Community leaders and citizens recognize the importance of the Safe Haven Baby Boxes program and usually do not experience problems with securing funds. 

•  Installing a baby box provides a tangible element and can serve as a starting point to reinforce the existing law, educating the community, and decreasing the risk of further infanticide. 

• The Safe Haven Laws have been updated to include Safe Haven Baby Boxes (safety devices) in ​Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and Arizona. 

• There are 27 active baby boxes - 27 in Indiana and 3 in Ohio and 1 in Arkansas. 

• Thirteen more baby boxes are planned to be available in Indiana, Ohio, and Arkansas by the middle of 2020.

• More than 40 communities are working on placing a Safe Haven Baby Box in a local hospital or fire station. 

• Indiana has not had a death by illegal abandonment since the first baby box was made available in April 2016. 

• The SHBB National Hotline has received over 5,000 call since inception. 

• The SHBB National Hotline assisted with 76 surrenders. 

• Eight babies have been safely surrendered in the Safe Haven Baby Boxes baby box in Michigan City, Indiana, Hammond Indiana, Seymour Indiana and Crown Point Indiana.  

• Nine babies were safely surrendered in 2019 in Indiana as a result of calls to the SHBB National Hotline.  

• Two babies have been surrendered directly to emergency personnel in locations that have a Safe Haven Baby Box installed. 

• Ohio’s abandonment rate continues to drop each year and with additional baby box installations. 

• Reports of opposition of the SHBB program were released prior to the SHBB program going live to the community (before April 2016). There have not been any substantial arguments against the program since.