December 28, 2007
Deposit Your Unwanted Newborn Here on Howard Street
A larger version of this photo showing the entire doorway is here
We've never taken a good look at one of these before. It's California's version of a foundling wheel or baby hatch. If within 72 hours of giving birth you show up at a Safe Surrender Site with your infant at any time of day or night, you can turn over custody without fear of being arrested or prosecuted for child abandonment. The only requirment is that you must physically hand over the child to a person who answers at the door. This is due to California's Safely Surrendered Baby Law.
Most states have similar rules. The slogan: "no shame, no blame, no names • sin pena, sin culpa, sin peligro."
Our CA law has had its ups and downs over the years. This might give you some idea of how some people would like to increase the age of a newborn that could be given up.
It's easy to see how the program is working in Los Angeles County. Take a look here and see if you find evidence of cause and effect.
L.A. is the place where a former USC architecture student Holly Ashcraft is being accused of murder for placing her newborn in a dumpster on campus in 2005. Part of the defense is that there is no evidence that proves she knew she was pregnant (although a similar set of circumstances appears to have existed in 2004 as well). Needless to say, this whole affair remains controversial.
But it serves to illustrate that you might know somebody who might benefit from the knowledge of the existence of this statewide funded mandate. Just saying.
Photo of Holly Ashcraft: Jeffrey Long, Daily Trojan
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How have you never seen one of these? I think a good portion of the SFFD buildings have them. The one on Oak does, theres one in Diamond Heights that does, another in the Mission.
There's even a monster that eats newborn babies and goes by the name of Suffahduh (s.s.f.d. said outloud) and if you don't give your newborn or unborn child he will plague your house with fire.
In most CA counties fire stations are safe surrender sites, although the law mandates that only hospital emergency rooms need be.
I like the little firefighter hat. Perhaps there was intent to create little raised-from-birth firefighters. Like in France:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeune_sapeur-pompier
Even the fireboat house on The Embarcadero at Harrison is a safe surrender site. I'm not sure how anonymous it is with two restaurants and lotsa joggers rolling through.