DELPHOS — History and folklore are replete with stories of children abandoned at birth, and for several babies in the United States, that story is their reality.
In 2001, Ohio lawmakers passed legislation that allows mothers of babies 30 days old or younger to leave that baby with a peace officer, hospital employee or medical service worker without risk of prosecution and allowing for anonymity, provided that baby has not been previously abused or neglected. The idea behind this law is to protect babies who may otherwise be abandoned in unsafe circumstances, risking death if they are not found.
Until 2005, Ohio averaged between 10 and 13 abandoned babies every year. Since then, that average has dropped to three, with no more than five babies abandoned during a year in that time span.
The Delphos Police and Fire departments joined this effort to protect unwanted babies Tuesday in becoming Save Haven locations, joining such Allen County locations as the Lima Police Department, Lima Fire Department, Allen County Sheriff’s Office, Shawnee Township Police Department, St. Rita’s Medical Center and Lima Memorial Health Services. The effort to create these locations has been spearheaded by the Lima Exchange Club.
“These signs are very important,” according to Brook Eggart, chairperson of the Exchange Club’s child abuse prevention committee. “We feel that a child who is unwanted is very apt to be neglected and fall into that range where there could be child abuse. So we want to make sure that parents know that there is a place where they can take their kids so they don’t go down that road.”
According to representatives from the Delphos Police Department, the plan would be, should the department receive a baby through this program, to immediately deliver that child to a local hospital. Once the child is placed and they receive a health checkup, the child is placed with Children Services for foster care and adoption. To this point, that provision has not been used in Allen County, according to Allen County Children Services.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
