The recent discovery of a dead newborn in trash can in East Hartford has restarted a conversation about the state's Safe Haven law. It allows parents in distress who are unable to care for their infants to leave them at a hospital emergency room.
The process is anonymous, and the state takes custody of the baby while it begins the adoption process. A social worker at Hartford Hospital recently explained to me how it works.
I stood in the emergency department with Kelly Pabilonia and asked her to give me a sense of what a mother in distress would do if she wants to give up custody of her child.
"When a mom comes in here, and wants to invoke the Safe Haven law," Pabiolonia said, "what she would do is come straight in the main door right here, and the first person she's going to see is the triage nurse. She would come right up to her, and tell her that she wanted to invoke the Safe Haven law." The mother could then hand over the baby to the triage nurse, she said.
"After she has been triaged," Pabiolonia said, "she would then be seen in one of these first FEP room areas. If she didn't need any care, and she wanted to leave, she could then leave. They would then call the social worker. It would be my job to call DCF, to get DCF to come and take the child at that point."
Advocates say the law has only been invoked about two dozen times since it was passed in 2000. Once, at Hartford Hospital, a friend brought in a baby to the emergency room. The infant's parents didn't want to be identified.
In another case, Pabilonia said she was working on the maternity ward. "The mom came into the maternity ward," she said, "and she did deliver the baby, just like a normal delivery would be, but when the 48 hours was up, and it was getting time to discharge, she said she wanted to invoke the Safe Haven law. She was aware of her rights, and that was her choice... She chose to be completely anonymous. I made sure that I advocated for her, and made sure that she knew what her rights were. We kept everything confidential, and none of that information was passed on."
Throughout, Pabilonia said it's her job to be an advocate for the mother, "and that she understands this is the best thing for the child," she said. "If she's not able to raise the child, or take care of the child, that this is the best thing, to give the baby the care that it needs. There are just so many reasons why somebody that's younger, that's not equipped to take care of it -- either physically, mentally, or financially -- would want to invoke the Safe Haven law.... It's actually a very, very selfless act to give a baby to a family to raise when you're not able to raise it yourself."
The state is planning to roll out a new advocacy campaign featuring young people in an effort to reach more new parents in distress.
