The town of Highland is getting a Safe Haven Baby Box. It allows people to anonymously surrender infants. The town council Monday approved a lease and maintenance agreement with the nonprofit group Safe Haven Baby Boxes, Inc., allowing one to be installed at the Highland Central Fire Station.
If a baby is placed inside the box, it will immediately alert 911 dispatchers, who, in turn, will notify firefighters. Town Attorney John Reed said the late Fire Chief Bill Timmer was confident his department could easily handle any calls, as well as required maintenance checks.
"The major maintenance items, the Baby Box folks will come and do those on a regular basis, but the day-to-day monitoring, Chief was quite confident that we'd be able to handle our portion of that maintenance without any real issue," Reed explained.
Council member Mark Schocke voiced his support for the baby box. "You know, obviously, the fact that there are alternatives and options and ways to provide an outlet for people that need it, it's a good thing, so we should support it," Schocke said.
Dozens of Safe Haven Baby Boxes have been installed throughout the state and beyond since 2016. "You know, obviously, the fact that there are alternatives and options and ways to provide an outlet for people that need it, it's a good thing, so we should support it," Schocke said.
Dozens of Safe Haven Baby Boxes have been installed throughout the state and beyond since 2016.
