A healthy baby girl was safely surrendered Sunday afternoon at a Safe Haven Baby Box located at Racine Fire Station 4, 3829 Washington Ave., according to the Racine Fire Department.
The surrender occurred at around 1:00 p.m., the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Firefighters and emergency medical personnel assessed and cared for the infant, who was found to be in good health, before she was transferred to Ascension All Saints Hospital for further evaluation. She is now in the custody of child protective services while officials work to identify a permanent adoptive home.
The Racine Fire Department said this was the second infant surrendered to the box since it was installed in December 2024.
“The priority of the Racine Fire Department is always the safety of our community, including its most vulnerable members,” the department said in a news release. “We are thankful that this parent chose a safe option and that this baby is now receiving the care and protection they deserve. Resources like the Safe Haven Baby Box exist to prevent tragedy.”
How the boxes work
Safe Haven Baby Boxes are temperature-controlled incubators built into the exterior walls of fire stations, police stations and hospitals, designed to give parents in crisis a legal, anonymous alternative to abandoning a newborn. A parent can place an infant inside through an exterior door; once closed, that door locks and an alarm alerts staff inside, giving the parent time to leave before responders retrieve the child. The baby is then sent for a wellness check and typically placed into state custody pending adoption.
Under Wisconsin’s Safe Haven law, parents may legally surrender infants up to 30 days old at hospitals, fire stations, police stations, or baby boxes without facing prosecution.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes began in Indiana nine years ago and has since expanded to at least 455 locations across 25 states. The organization says more than 80 newborns have been surrendered to baby boxes nationwide, and it has helped facilitate more than 200 additional face-to-face safe surrenders through its confidential National Safe Haven Hotline, 1-866-99BABY1, which offers free counseling to parents considering the option.
