SEYMOUR — Safe Haven Baby Boxes have been in and out of the news for years, but after a newborn was abandoned in Seymour earlier this week they've become a major topic of discussion.
The boxes began popping up in Indiana in 2016. They're meant to be a place where parents who don't think they can care for their newborn can safely leave them knowing that they'll be safe in the hands of a first responder in minutes.
But many women don't even know they exist.
READ | Indiana's Safe Haven Baby Boxes are saving — and changing — lives
Monica Kelsey, founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, says the infant being abandoned in Seymour was avoidable because there was a box close by and because of Indiana's Safe Haven Surrender law.
There's a Safe Haven Baby Box just a mile from where a little girl was left.
Since the first box was installed, Kelsey says three babies have been dropped at boxes and the infant in Seymour is the first abandoned baby reported in the state.
The Safe Haven Law allows Hoosier parents to surrender their newborns to someone at a designated location without fear of being charged with abandonment.
Kelsey says she wants more people to be aware of the safe surrender. Safe Haven Baby Boxes is looking for volunteers to talk about safe surrenders to middle and high school students.
