Benton to consider Safe Haven Baby Boxes

The Benton City Council Community Services Committee will discuss potentially bringing Safe Have Baby Boxes to the city.

The Baby Box is a safety device that goes hand-in-hand with the Arkansas Safe Haven Law, which legally permits a mother in crisis to surrender her unwanted newborn 30 days old or younger to an employee at any hospital emergency room or law enforcement agency anonymously without facing prosecution for endangering or abandoning a child.

Benton Fire Chief Bill Ford will make a presentation to the committee during their meeting on Tuesday night about the Save Haven Boxes.

The device is a box installed in an exterior wall of a designated fire station or hospital. The box has an exterior door that locks automatically upon a baby being placed inside. An interior door then allows a medical staff member to secure the surrendered newborn from inside the building.

The boxes are in a climatecontrolled environment with three trip switches which are activated when the door is accessed from the outside. The newborn in the box activates a motion sensor or when a visible button is pushed by the person who wishes to relinquish custody of the newborn.

Boxes can only be installed at a site that is staffed 24 hours per day and seven days per week. Emergency personnel is required to respond every time an alarm is activated at the box to verify whether a newborn has been placed in the box.

Newborns are evaluated by medical personnel before being immediately transported to the closest hospital for evaluation.

EMS is required to notify the hospital that the child is a Safe Haven Baby Box newborn surrendered under the current Safe Haven Law. The hospital will notify the Arkansas Department of Human Services, so that the baby can be placed in a permanent home.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the Mayor’s Conference Room at the Benton Municipal Complex, located at 114 S. East St.

All meetings are open to the public and attendance is encouraged.