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The Board of Directors of the
Children's Advocacy Center accepted the challenge to coordinate the
Safe Baby Site project for Johnson County. The Baby Moses Law
enacted in 1999 provides a responsible alternative to parents who might
otherwise abandon, neglect or harm a newborn child. It states
that a parent may leave an unharmed infant, up to sixty days old, at
any hospital, fire station or designated Emergency Medical Provider,
with no questions asked and no penalty to the parent.
Texas State Law 262.301 and 262.302
The project ensures that the
personnel of each designated Safe Baby Site know the law and are
trained on how to react in situations where newborns may be left in
their care.
The Baby Moses Law passed in
1999 but no funding was attached to provide media publicity or
education for the public. Therefore, there have still been many
Texas children abandoned and left to die in trash dumpsters and dark
alleys. It is our hope that through a massive training effort,
public awareness media pieces and speaking presentations, we can
prevent any other babies in Johnson County from facing this fate.
History has shown us that 25% of all abandoned babies do not survive.
Our Board has provided training for
all sites and has just completed production of a training
video that will be distributed to all fire stations, mobile baby sites
and hospitals. |
