Cole County baby box installation begins
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Installation of the Safe Haven Baby Box began Monday at the Cole County EMS Headquarters in downtown Jefferson City, Chief Eric Hoy said.
The device is expected to be installed by the end of the week, but people will not be able to drop off infants until sometime in February, Hoy said. The box is being put in a wall on the building's east side, behind the engine truck garages. People can access it from East McCarty Street.
GBH Builders Inc. in Jefferson City is the contractor installing the device.
Once installation is complete, Hoy said the Safe Haven Baby Box requires 30 days of testing and a state inspection.
“There's great public support for this project, so it's nice to see it cross the finish line,” Hoy said.
The original goal was to have the device installed by fall 2025, but funding gaps and installation changes set back the project.
The community raised nearly $28,000 for the baby box, but Hoy said construction costs left a $4,900 deficit after the state did not approve the original location the county proposed for the box because it was up a set of stairs.
Few exterior walls on the EMS headquarters met all the state's requirements for baby box installation. The location that was approved is a three-story, weight-bearing brick wall. Hoy said that made installation more expensive.
The county decided to cover the installation cost of the device and then seek reimbursement from the state.
The Cole County Commission agreed to a plan in September to spend EMS funds upfront to cover the $4,900 construction cost gap that had stalled installation for months.
Two years after the Jefferson City Public Safety Committee began discussing the implementation of a box after a baby was left in a Walmart bag behind a shed in Maries County, Cole County is joining at least nine other Missouri locations to have a Safe Haven Baby Box.
The baby box will allow people to safely drop off infants instead of abandoning them.
"We did elect the option that there is some remote camera monitoring," Hoy said. "So we will have 24/7 access to see what is in the device.”
He said the cameras will not capture anyone outside, keeping the identity of those surrendering a baby anonymous.
The device will not be available or accessible to the public until a formal announcement and presentation in February, Hoy said. It will be locked for training and inspection.
In the meantime, people experiencing a crisis can safely surrender a newborn by dialing 911 or at any staffed EMS, police or fire station.
