Safe Haven Law
December 14, 2007

It is always refreshing when the Legislature can take positive steps to address an unfortunate and sad situation. Such is the case with our so-called "safe haven" law.

Just this week, an infant only hours old was abandoned outside a Charleston hospital. One can only imagine the circumstances the mother faced to cause her to take such action, but authorities are grateful that she left the baby in a relatively safe place where he was quickly discovered.

Like many other states, West Virginia has a law on the books intended to provide an incentive for mothers in crisis to safely relinquish their babies to a safe haven where the baby will be protected and provided with medical care until a permanent home can be found. The laws generally allow the parent, or an agent of the parent, to remain anonymous and protected from prosecution for abandonment or neglect.

According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, which is a service of the U.S. Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, at least 46 states have enacted safe haven legislation to "provide a vehicle for the safe relinquishment of unwanted newborns." These bills were adopted to address not only unsafe infant abandonment but infanticide.

The laws vary. Designated safe havens in some states are hospitals, police stations and fire stations. Some state safe haven laws target infants who are 72 hours or younger, while many other states, including West Virginia, accept infants up to one month old.

In 2000, the Legislature adopted House Bill 4300. The bill created a procedure to deal with the voluntary delivery of infants up to 30 days old to hospitals or health care facilities by a child’s parent who does not express an intent to return for the child.

The hospital or health care facility is required to take possession of the infant and to immediately report possession to the Child Protective Services Division of state Department of Health and Human Resources. The Division is required to assume the care, custody and control of the child upon receipt of notification from the hospital or health care facility and to petition the court to take legal custody of the infant. DHHR may immediately contract with a private child care agency for the care and placement of the child.

The parent is granted an affirmative defense to prosecution of neglect if the parent is charged under that section for abandoning the infant.

In the Charleston case, authorities have said they don’t anticipate filing charges, but they are seeking the mother to ensure that she is safe.

I welcome and appreciate your input on these or any other legislative issues. Write to House Majority Leader Joe DeLong, Building 1, Room 228-M, 1900 Kanawha Blvd. E., Charleston, 25305, or joe@joedelong.com, or call 304-340-3220.