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Abandoned ChildrenIf you are a parent - or expectant parent - WHO CANNOT COPE - please don't hurt or abandon your baby! There is help for you! You might be able to take your baby to a safe place where you will not be prosecuted. But even if the laws in your area mean prosecution, giving your child to a safe person means you'll likely avoid murder, manslaughter or aggravated abuse charges. We beseech you to give your baby to someone who can help: a doctor's office, the police, a foster care agency, the hospital, a family member, a family resource agency. Any responsible adult will care for the baby until other caregivers can be found. (If you don't want to give the baby up, there also are agencies that can help you get back on your feet. Go to the Safer Child Families in Crisis page, the Help With Abuse page, or the Safer Child Foster Care page for suggestions.) Please do the right thing. Please give your baby a chance for life.
What is child abandonment? Safer Child's definition is this: Child abandonment is when a person leaves an infant or child alone and without care and/or with the intent of permanently giving up care and custody of the infant or child. A few of these babies are saved by other caring adults. The other babies die of illness, injury, hunger, thirst, heat or cold. Every case is a horror. They're hard to think about. Hard to deal with. Hard to forgive. Safer Child's goal is to help PREVENT all such occurrences, and parents can help by Teaching Their Children about abstinence, safe sex and also about personal responsibility. How prevalent is child abandonment? Nobody really knows - many cases go unreported, or they are reported as cases of neglect or abuse. But in 1998, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services surveyed major newspapers and found 65 reports of abandoned babies in 1991 (eight found dead) and 108 in 1998 (33 found dead). Although state laws differ, all states currently have laws against maltreatment, abuse and/or neglect of the baby (i.e. leaving a baby unsupervised and unprotected). What is the government doing? Fortunately, many states are moving to institute legal abandonment laws, which allow people to leave babies at hospitals without fear of prosecution or identification. Several states, including Idaho, have already passed such laws; other states are following suit. The National Conference of State Legislators provides you with detailed information on the variances in proposed and passed laws. This legislation differs state to state, but the basic gist is that they remove or lessen the threat of prosecution - if parents leave their newborns with designated caregivers as identified by the law. Some of the laws allow for complete anonymity; others require that the designated caregivers attempt to establish identity and gain some information about the baby. After the exchange is made, the baby receives medical attention and then is usually turned over to the state for adoption or foster care. Unfortunately, even having a new law won't help if people don't know about it. An April 2001 report said that babies were still being abandoned in Florida despite its new law allowing people to remain anonymous as they took their babies to a safe place. An attorney was quoted saying, "When the Legislature passed the law, they didn't appropriate any money to publicize it." What is the resistance to legislation allowing legal abandonment? Some feel that such legislation ignores the importance of emphasizing personal responsibility. Others feel it sends the wrong message: i.e. that it's OK to behave poorly and then abandon the resulting child. Another concern is that adoption processes might be hampered by lack of information about the baby and parental rights. But advocates believe the immediate danger to the infant or child takes precedence over more esoteric issues of responsibility and values (which they agree are important, but better dealt with at another time and in another forum). What else can be done? Safer Child feels that the first and best thing that can be done is that teens learn at home about abstinence, safe sex and the value of waiting to have sex. They also need to see a good example from parents and other role models. In addition, the Child Welfare League of America is studying this issue, in hopes of presenting a "multifaceted response" that will include "recommendations for policy and practice at the local and national levels." And of course, if a state passes a new law as critical as these, appropriating sufficient money to promote the law effectively would be helpful. Any other suggestions you have will be taken seriously and considered for referral to pertinent organizations.
For help, try these organizations:
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Safer Child, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with federal tax-exempt status. Please note: 1) External organizations listed herein do not necessarily endorse Safer Child positions, nor do we necessarily endorse theirs. We list them as a courtesy and aren't responsible for their accuracy, completeness or content. 2) We recommend you maintain a healthy skepticism when reviewing information on the Internet; it might appear to be reliable -- yet actually be false, misleading, incomplete, out-of-date and/or intentionally harmful. 3) There might be material on the Internet that you disagree with or find objectionable; preview all sites before viewing them with your child. 4) We are not responsible for external addresses/phone numbers changing without our knowledge. 5) The information and commentary on this site are not substitutes for professional advice from your doctor, lawyer, or mental health professional. 6) Requests for permission to republish, copy and/or distribute any material found on this Web site should be directed to Safer Child, Inc.
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