In 1998, a series of deaths of abandoned infants led members of the Ambulance Medical Technicians of the Nassau County Police Department in New York to offer parents a safer way to relinquish custody of their newborns. EMT Tim Jaccard drafted the original legislation for the Safe Haven law, which allows a parent or guardian to leave their infant at a designated place without fear of arrest or prosecution.

The locations and time periods in which this option is permissible vary by state. In Indiana, a person can bring a baby less than 30 days old to an emergency room, fire station or police station.

Since its enactment, the Safe Haven law has saved approximately 3,000 infants nationwide. But Monica Kelsey, a Fort Wayne firefighter, says there is a way to ensure even more infants would be safe from abandonment.

Kelsey has proposed installing so-called baby boxes at designated Safe Haven locations as a way to further protect the anonymity of people who choose this option. The boxes would be equipped with sensors, so the proper authorities would be alerted when a baby is placed inside.

“There are still these babies, anywhere from 50 to 100 per year, that are still being abandoned illegally in our country and 33 of those baby that were illegally abandoned were from the state of Indiana,” Kelsey says.

A prototype of the box has been developed, which triggers three calls to 911 alerting authorities that a box has been used. The first call happens when the box is opened, another occurs when weight sensors indicate a baby has been placed inside and the third call goes out when the parent presses a button on the box. The box also comes equipped with heating and cooling mechanisms, along with a back-up energy source.

Jaccard says there are many problems with the plan, including safety concerns, cost and unpracticality.

Since there would not be cameras set up around the box, he says there are concerns about people placing bombs inside the compartments, which would go off when the responder opens the box. Also, if the safety mechanisms fail, the baby could suffer harm or potentially die. The cost of installation, maintenance, training and insurance would add up quickly, he says. He also doesn’t expect the boxes to get much use.

He says people need to be more aware of Safe Haven protections.

“If we can take those resources and money and do public service announcements and awareness programs, we can continually drop the rates,” Jaccard says.

Rep. Casey Cox, R-Fort Wayne, drafted the baby box legislation. The bill passed unanimously through the House of Representatives and will go through the Senate in the coming weeks.

Cox says the bill has altruistic intentions and he is willing to modify it based on concerns and feedback. If passed, the current bill would require the Indiana State Department of Health to develop standards and protocols for the boxes by July 1, 2016. The boxes would be optional and funded by private parties.

The Safe Haven provider that installs the box must abide by the standards set by the ISDH and maintain the box. If they fail to do so, they will lose their liability protections from the state and face a $10,000 fine.

“Any organization that is responsible enough to take the steps to make a board level decision to not only fund this but install it and abide by the terms is, in my view, not going to be irresponsible to just let it sit there and think it just isn't right for them,” Cox says.