Third Baby Box planned for county, first in Sugar Creek Township

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A group from Leadership Hancock County is planning to install the Safe Haven Baby Box at Fire Station 42, 473 South 500 W. New Palestine.

HANCOCK COUNTY — A group of people going through this year’s Leadership Hancock County class has decided to add another Safe Haven Baby Box in the county as part of their community group project.

Jeremy Teipen, Hancock County Public Defender, is the spokesperson for the group working with officials from the Sugar Creek Township Fire Department who plan to bring the Safe Haven Baby Box to the southern part of the county. Teipen and SCTFD Chief Brandon Kleine say they’ll need to raise about $25,000 in order to add another life-saving unit to the county.

Kleine says SCTFD is pleased to partner with the group for the installation of the Safe Haven Baby Box at Fire Station 42, 473 South 500 W, New Palestine. The firehouse is located just south of the intersection at Gem Road and U.S. 40. It’s also about three minutes from the Marion County line and is right next to the Pennsy Trail.

The other two Safe Haven Baby Boxes in Hancock County are located at the Vernon Township Fire Station No. 3, 600 Vitality Drive, Fortville and at 210 W. New Road, Greenfield which is the Greenfield Fire Territory Station No. 422.

Teipen noted his group is full of people who want to help serve the community in a positive way and they felt adding another Safe Haven Baby Box would be a good project to be part of.

“I think it’s good to have as many of these units as we can in the county,” Teipen said. “The location is a great place because it’s right there by U.S. 40 where there is a lot of traffic and it’s easy to get to.”

Teipen noted officials with SCTFD were actually looking into the idea of adding a Baby Box at one of their stations when the group from Leadership of Hancock County approached them about the idea.

“With us coming forward it just kind of worked out and we’re really pleased that they agreed,” Teipen said.

Officials with SCTFD were just as happy to be part of the project and were glad the group from Leadership of Hancock County stepped forward and took on the task.

“I think adding a Baby Box is a great idea because it’s much better than the alternative,” Kleine said. “It’s in the right location with the Pennsy Trail being right there by our firehouse.”

Kleine noted the department supports the Safe Haven Baby Box program and feels honored to be of service to the community.

“If we can provide a shelter, help save a life, that’s kind of the business we are in,” Kleine said.

Now the hard part of the idea starts, with raising funds — $25,000 plus, making sure staff is trained and the Baby Box works through monitoring at the county’s 911 emergency center.

“If our guys are out on a run, the box is automatically linked to the 911 center and they can view inside the box to see what is left in it,” Kleine said.

The Baby Box will be monitored 24/7, for 365 days a year in multiple ways with a fail safe mechanism.

“It’s always temperature controlled because obviously we’ll be dealing with most likely premature babies or a newborn,” Kleine said.

Indiana’s Safe Haven Law, passed in 2000, allows a person to anonymously surrender an unwanted infant no more than 30 days old without fear of arrest or prosecution. The person is not required to provide any information as long as there are no signs of intentional abuse. Once the baby is examined and given any needed medical treatment, the Indiana Department of Child Services takes the baby into custody before placing the baby with a caregiver. The process then begins to find an adoptive family which officials say usually happens within 30-45 days.

Officials with Safe Haven Baby Box staffs a 24-hour Safe Haven hotline (1-866-99BABY1), so parents can talk to trained professionals and get more information about their options for surrendering or how to get assistance to help them be able to care for their child.

Now that the decision has been made to add another Baby Box, the money needs to be raised to install it. Anyone wishing to help the group raise the needed funds can visit the following link, https://secure.qgiv.com/for/fundraiserforsugarcreeksafehavenbabybox/ and make a donation.