Expanded Safe Haven law goes into effect in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — Starting Wednesday, newborns can be anonymously surrendered to hospitals up to 90 days after birth.

The expansion of Utah’s Safe Haven law was intended to help as many babies as possible. The 2001 law allowed infants to be surrendered at hospitals with no questions asked, but only for 30 days after birth.

Utah Newborn Safe Haven coordinator Josie Thacker said they are always looking to expand this law.

“We want to help more newborns. We want to protect them from unsafe abandonment,” Thacker said.

She said many states already have laws allowing safe abandonment up to 90 days.

Expanded Safe Haven Law protects more children

During the legislative session, Utah Newborn Safe Haven Advisory Chair and former Rep. Patrice Arent said the expansion protects children.

“The typical scenario: you’ve got a young woman with no partner or family support. Often, she doesn’t even admit to herself she’s pregnant, she panics when the baby is born,” Arent said.

When a baby 90 days old or younger is surrendered to a hospital, no questions are asked.

Thacker said this is an effort to save more children if a mother feels she can’t opt for adoption.

“The law does provide anonymity for these people. So there’s no names, there’s no questions. There’s no shame.”

Babies can only be surrendered at hospitals because they are always staffed.

A child will be given a check-up and can be adopted later. 

Resources: Help with Children

Those who feel stressed out with a child, who need a break or who feel like they need counseling or training can reach out to one of the following agencies:

• The Family Support Center has 15 locations throughout the state and offers a free crisis nursery for parents who have to keep appointments or who are stressed out. They also offer counseling and family mentoring. Call 801-955-9110 or visit familysupportcenter.org/contact.php for more information.
• Prevent Child Abuse Utah provides home visiting in Weber, Davis, and Box Elder counties. Parent Educators provide support, education, and activities for families with young children. Their statewide education team offers diverse trainings on protective factors, digital safety, bullying, and child sex trafficking. They are available for in-person or virtual trainings and offer free online courses for the community at pcautah.org.
• The Office of Home Visiting works with local agencies to provide home visits to pregnant women and young families who would like to know more about being parents. Home visitors are trained and can provide information about breastfeeding, developmental milestones, toilet training, nutrition, mental health, home safety, child development, and much more. Find out more at homevisiting.utah.gov.

The Safe Haven law allows birth parents in Utah to safely and anonymously give up custody of their newborn child at any hospital in the state, with no legal consequences and no questions asked. The child’s mother can drop off the child, or the mother can ask someone else to do it for her. The newborns should be dropped off at hospitals that are open 24 hours a day. Newborns given up in this manner will be cared for by the hospital staff, and the Utah Division of Child and Family Services will find a home for the child. For more information, visit utahsafehaven.org or call the 24-hour hotline at 866-458-0058.

CSAM Prevention Resources and Victim Recovery: 

• The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children provides support to children who are victims of child sexual exploitation through emotional peer support for families, content removal of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and help getting connected to therapists and attorneys. The NCMEC also provides a CyberTipline where CSAM can be reported. Visit https://www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/csam-resources for more information. 
• The Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force hosts a hub of resources for parents and offers local help to cases involving child sexual exploitation. 
• RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) provides a guide of safety measures to take in order to prevent children from being targeted in CSAM cases. 
• Thorn nonprofit organization creates products and programs that combat child sexual abuse at scale. It provides resources for families to help them identify the possible ways children can be exploited online, giving them proper terminology and statistics to keep them educated. For more information, visit https://www.thorn.org/research/child-sexual-abuse-material-csam/ 
• Utah Domestic Violence Coalition operates a confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic abuse hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465). Resources are also available online: udvc.org. The statewide child abuse and neglect hotline is 1-855-323-DCFS (3237).