Jefferson City considering baby safe haven box
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Jefferson City officials are considering the purchase of a device that would allow people to safely drop off infants instead of abandoning them.
The Jefferson City Public Safety Committee discussed installing a baby surrender box at its Thursday meeting. The discussion comes just weeks after a baby was found in a plastic bag behind a shed in Marines County earlier this month.
The baby safe surrender box would come from an Indiana-based company called Safe Haven Baby Boxes. They have baby boxes across 16 states. If approved, the capital city's would be the second baby box to be installed in Missouri.
Missouri's first baby box was completed in August of last year in Mehlville. Their first baby was surrendered six months after its completion.
"We tailor our fire district to the needs of our community," Mehlville Fire Protection District Chief Brian Hendricks said. "And we saw the trend across the country, as well as in the state of Missouri, that, women in crisis, really didn't have any other option when they were faced with such a difficult decision to make.
"You know, we've had safe haven laws on the state, on the books in the state of Missouri for a long time, and we found that women in crisis aren't going to surrender babies at the hospital or at a police station or even a fire station. So we felt that this gave women, another option when faced with, such a tragic decision."
The Jefferson City Public Safety Committee directed the city attorney and public safety staff to discuss with Safe Haven Baby Box about bringing one to Mid-Missouri and the discussion will continue at the next meeting in October.
