'SAFE HAVEN' FOR BABIES TO GET PUSH COUNTY WILL PROMOTE PROGRAM.Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer The county's Children and Families First Proposition 10 Commission will lead a campaign to educate the public about the Safe Haven 1. Designated area(s) to which noncombatants of the United States Government's responsibility and commercial vehicles and materiel may be evacuated during a domestic or other valid emergency. 2. program to save abandoned babies, Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Supervisor Don Knabe Donald R. Knabe (born October 15, 1943 in Illinois) is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, serving the Fourth District, a crescent shaped district that covers the coastline from Marina Del Rey southward to Long Beach, and southeastern Los Angeles County to said Thursday. ``I promised the county would move swiftly in our crusade to inform the public about the state's 72-hour safe haven law Safe haven law is the popular name for United States' laws that decriminalize leaving unharmed infants with statutorily designated private persons so that the child becomes a ward of the state. "Safe haven" laws typically let parents stay nameless to the court. and we are,'' Knabe said. ``Our goal must be zero babies thrown away, and we must do all we can to save these baby's lives. ``Last month we announced a new toll-free safe haven hotline, and since its launch, two babies have been safely surrendered, and zero babies reported thrown away,'' he said. Mothers can call the hotline, staffed 24 hours a day by 40 professionals speaking more than 160 languages, to get information on the state's 72-hour safe haven law and the closest designated safe haven. The number is (877) 725-5111. In February, a mother abandoned her newborn boy in the parking lot of West Hills Hospital and Medical Center. Woodland Hills resident Rosemary Gutierrez, 27, was charged with felony child abuse and child endangerment because the law requires mothers to actually surrender the baby to an employee inside a hospital. The law says that no parent who drops off a baby 72 hours old or younger may be prosecuted for child abandonment Child abandonment is the practice of abandoning offspring outside of legal adoption. Causes include many social, cultural, and political factors as well as mental illness. The abandoned child is called a foundling or throwaway if they voluntarily surrender the child to any employee at a public or private hospital. In June, the Board of Supervisors approved a set of recommendations to expand the number of safe haven sites, enhance services to women of childbearing child·bear·ing n. Pregnancy and parturition. child  bear ing adj. age and design a public information campaign.
Since then, five newborns have been abandoned in the county, three of whom didn't survive. Two abandoned babies were found by concerned citizens who brought them to hospitals. In the past month, two infants were safely surrendered at hospital emergency rooms in San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. County. On Tuesday, the county supervisors will vote to designate county fire stations as safe haven sites. The commission will be allocated $500,000 to $1 million to lead the campaign. |
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