Jefferson Co. To Receive Safe Haven Baby Boxes

The box will be placed on the outside of the Jefferson County Public Safety Center.

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(Jefferson County, Ind) - Jefferson County will soon be receiving a safe haven baby box.

The mission of a safe haven baby box is to “prevent illegal abandonment of newborns by raising awareness, offering a 24-hour hotline for mothers in crisis and offering a last resort option for women.”

The box will be placed on the outside of the Jefferson County Public Safety Center, otherwise known as the 911 and EMA building.

These boxes allow mothers to give up their infant in a safer way with no questions asked. Once the mother opens the door of the safe haven box, it sends out a silent alarm, to inform the monitors of the box that it is in use. A camera then comes on to monitor the baby, along with heat or air conditioning and lights.

The funding for this box will be coming from a group at North Madison Christian Church, with no cost to the county.

With the approval of the Jefferson County Commissioners, the plans for the box will now move forward to receive approval on the location from the Safe Haven company.