'Safe Haven' Publicity Falters
By Matt Krasnowski
Originally published in The Daily Breeze, July 14, 2002
With the horrifying discovery of a third dead abandoned baby at a Los Angeles-area recycling center in less than a month, officials and child advocates concede that efforts to publicize a state law intended to stop such tragedies are falling short.
The newborn found at a Carson recycling plant Tuesday brought the total number of abandoned babies found in Los Angeles County to five in less than a month. Two were found alive.
"It's just unconscionable. It's like letting a toddler go play in a freeway," said sheriff's Sgt. Richard Longshore, who is investigating the death of a newborn girl, whom he has named Amanda, found last month at a City of Industry recycling center.
The three deaths and the abandonments have left officials not only distressed but puzzled. Last year, the state's Safe Arms for Newborns law took effect, allowing parents to drop off unharmed newborns at hospital emergency rooms within 72 hours of birth without fear of prosecution.
Officials say they have confirmed that eight babies statewide were turned over since the law took effect in January 2001, including two that were surrendered in Los Angeles County.
But in that same time period, 23 infants have been abandoned in Los Angeles County alone; 14 of them were found dead. A state official said there are no figures available statewide on the number of abandoned babies.
Debi Faris, who founded Garden of Angels, which provides burials for abandoned babies including Amanda said she's thankful for the babies that have been saved by the state law, but it could be more. "I think there could be a lot more prevention of this tragedy if people were talking about it more."
"We need to move faster in terms of our response," said Deanne Tilton, executive director of the Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse & Neglect in Los Angeles County. "We are launching a major effort but it isn't far enough along, obviously."
The string of abandonments sparked Los Angeles County officials to launch a 24-hour, toll-free, multilingual hotline in hopes of encouraging women who are considering abandoning their newborns to drop off the babies legally.
Later this year, a $1.5 million statewide campaign will begin publicizing the safe haven law. It will include television, radio ads, billboards and posters.
Blanca Castro, a spokeswoman with the state Department of Social Services, said the campaign will stress to women that if they follow the law, they will face no legal consequences. The campaign will tell women there is no blame, no shame, no name, Castro said.
The challenge is making sure the message is heard and believed, officials said.
Tilton said such campaigns have worked in other parts of the country, but noted that few places match the wide cultural and economic diversity of Los Angeles. She said women who abandon their children include a wide range of ages, races, cultures and economic backgrounds.
"We do know that the women who do this deny the pregnancy, hide their situation, believe there is no reasonable course of action and in some cases they know the 'safe haven law," Tilton said. "There is a difference between knowing you can do this and believing you can do this… . Somehow we need to get in the mind-set of the pregnant woman before the delivery that there is a place for her to go."
In Los Angeles, officials want to broaden the law so newborns can be dropped off at fire stations and health clinics. Faris is pushing to expand it so women can call 911 and have paramedics take the child.
Castro said authorities need families and friends of troubled pregnant women to help, too.
"We really need community involvement," she said. "We encourage people to try to talk to their family members."
As for the trend of babies being discovered at recycling centers, Tilton said the newborns are likely being found there because recycling bins are large and the items are sorted. She fears additional babies are dying undetected after being put in garbage bins and later dumped in landfills.
"When we do find babies abandoned, it is almost always incidental, someone hears something near a Dumpster or someone is (scavenging) in the trash," she said.
There are other tragedies that face children, Tilton said. "But there's something just terrible about discarding a child before it has a chance because there are so many people who would love to have these babies."
The number of the Safe Haven Hotline is 877-725-5111.
