« Ind. Decisions - Court of Appeals issues 5 today (and 20 NFP) | Main | Courts - "NJ Supreme Court committee to look at what can be done to make e-discovery cost-effective and accessible to all"; "Evidence on Social Networking Sites" »
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Ind. Law - Still more on "Key to safe-haven law is spreading the word"
The ILB has had a number of entries on Indiana's "safe haven" law, dating back to 2004. The most recent is this entry from Feb. 8, 2009 (which is a good companion to today's entry).
Sadly, yesterday another story, this one reported by Angela Mapes Turner of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, headed "Help was available for mom: Advocates cite ignorance of state’s safe-haven law." Some quotes:
AUBURN – A young mother in jail, facing a charge of attempted murder.Indiana's Safe Haven Law is found at IC 31-34-2.5.A newborn girl, wrapped in a flowery yellow blanket put inside a black plastic garbage bag left to die.
Those who advocate for Indiana’s safe-haven laws see Alison Lesch’s case as a tragedy lessened, but not quite averted. Advocates say better education – and funding behind it – is needed to promote the law, which allows a child up to 45 days old to be left, no questions asked, with emergency services workers at any hospital emergency room, fire station or law enforcement agency in Indiana. * * *
National Safe Haven Alliance board member Bob Floyd said he had a terrible feeling when he heard of Lesch’s arrest today.
“This is completely unnecessary, had she known about the law,” he said.
Floyd has been trying for several years to get word out about the program in Indiana – part of a nationwide patchwork of volunteers.
Dawn Geras of Illinois is another. The national organization’s vice president, Geras said Illinois’ Safe Haven law was drafted around her dining room table.
The National Safe Haven Alliance relies heavily on volunteers such as Geras to track how many infants are affected by the safe haven laws. Since the first law was enacted in 1999 in Texas, all U.S. states and the District of Columbia have passed similar safe-haven legislation. The National Safe Haven Alliance estimates that more than 1,000 infants have been saved by the laws.
Since Indiana’s law took effect at the start of this decade, six babies have been turned in under Indiana’s Safe Haven law, Geras said.
During that same time, at least 23 have been abandoned illegally, not counting the infant Lesch allegedly abandoned. At least seven lived, but eight died; Geras is unsure about the fate of the rest.
Indiana isn’t doing well, but neither is the rest of the country, Geras said. She recently attended a conference of judges in Illinois, where many of the judges tasked with upholding the law were unfamiliar with it.
“Everyone knows the words ‘adoption’ and ‘abortion,’ ” Geras said. “They should know ‘safe haven,’ too.”
Volunteers such as Geras and Floyd have been trying to get every safe-haven site in their states outfitted with signs publicizing the law. About 14 states, not including Indiana, have done that, Geras said.
Publicity and training attempts have been stunted by lack of funding. Non-profit Stop Child Abuse & Neglect, or SCAN, has a free workshop to train professionals on Indiana’s safe-haven law.
Because of cuts in funding to SCAN’s “Prevention Through Education” program, that and other programs offered outside Allen County were discontinued last month, SCAN Communications Director Stephanie Jentgen said.
From 2004 until the start of this month, SCAN educated more than 2,300 professionals on the law and how to assist people to drop off infants, Jentgen said.
But while knowledge may have increased among professionals, cases such as Lesch’s show it’s lacking among parents, National Safe Haven Alliance board member Floyd said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 11, 2009 08:14 AM
Posted to Indiana Law