LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (LifeSiteNews) — Hospitals, fire departments, and law enforcement agencies can apply for money to install a Safe Haven Baby Box thanks to an Arkansas program.
The baby boxes allow parents to leave newborn children up to one month old in the secure and monitored box, no questions asked.
“The Safe Haven Baby Box Grant provides funding to eligible organizations to assist with the costs associated with implementing a Safe Haven Baby Box,” the state Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) announced on August 23.
“My administration is committed to supporting mothers and babies, especially in their most vulnerable moments,” Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders stated in the news release. “This grant program will provide resources and give struggling new moms safe options that help build a culture of life in Arkansas. I applaud local communities who are investing in this program and partnering with the state.”
“This grant program is one more way Governor Sanders is ensuring the health and safety of Arkansas’ youngest and most vulnerable citizens,” DFA Secretary Jim Hudson stated. “We encourage eligible organizations across the state to consider pursuing this funding. The Safe Haven program saves lives, and we are proud to support it.”
The state’s safe haven law also allows parents to leave their newborn “at any hospital emergency room, law enforcement agency, or fire department that is staffed 24 hours a day,” as long as it is with an employee.
“Safe Haven Baby Boxes are designed for mothers to securely and anonymously deliver babies to a safe place where they will be taken by professionals for care and placement with a willing family,” LifeSiteNews previously explained. “They are equipped with heating, cooling, and a silent alarm to ensure a baby is attended to shortly after placement. Once a baby is placed in a box, it then locks on the outside so passersby cannot take or harm him or her.”
Safe haven boxes have been used successfully across the country. Safe Haven Baby Boxes is a national organization that advocates for the boxes and in general for support for families in crisis.
“Women in crisis can call the national 24-hour hotline and can receive counseling and assistance free of charge. To date, the hotline has received over 9,000 calls from every state in the United States,” the website states.
“Safe Haven Baby Boxes has referred over 500 women to crisis pregnancy centers, assisted in 9 adoption referrals, and have had over 150 legal Safe Haven surrenders,” according to the group. “Fifty babies have been surrendered in our Baby Boxes. Three babies were surrendered directly to firefighters at Safe Haven Baby Box locations.”
Babies have been saved via the boxes in Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri, to name just a few states.
Arkansas also announced $1 million earlier this year to support pro-life pregnancy resource centers that help families in need, as previously reported by LifeSiteNews.
Editor’s note: The author has donated to the Safe Haven Baby Box organization in the past.