Child protection: safe surrender.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill does not mandate the installation of infant safety devices, it only allows for their installation.

Child Protection: Safe Surrender

AB-2073 allows safe surrender sites to install infant safety devices, which must be climate-controlled and have a dual alarm system for anonymity, but does not require them to do so. It also protects parents from child abandonment charges if they use these devices.

What This Bill Does

• Allows safe surrender sites to install infant safety devices that are climate-controlled with a dual alarm system and maintain the anonymity of the person leaving the baby.
• Requires safe surrender sites to visually check and test installed infant safety devices at specified intervals.
• Protects parents from being charged with child abandonment if they use an infant safety device at a designated safe surrender site.

Who It Names or Affects

• Parents or guardians of newborn babies up to three days old
• Safe surrender sites like hospitals, fire stations, and county-designated locations

Terms To Know

Infant safety device

A special box that keeps a baby safe and anonymous when left at a designated location.

Safe surrender site

A place where parents can leave their newborn babies safely without fear of punishment.

Limits and Unknowns

• Does not require safe surrender sites to install infant safety devices.
• The bill does not specify how often the baby boxes need to be checked and tested.
• It is unclear if this will increase the number of newborn babies being safely surrendered.

Official Summary Text

AB 2073, as introduced, Johnson.
Child protection: safe surrender.
Existing law defines a safe-surrender site to mean a location designated by the board of supervisors of a county or by a local fire agency, or a location within a public or private hospital that is designated by that hospital, to be responsible for accepting physical custody of a minor child who is 72 hours old or younger from a parent or individual who has lawful custody of that child and who surrenders the child. Existing law requires personnel on duty at a safe-surrender site to accept physical custody of the minor child, and to notify child protective services or a county agency providing child welfare services as soon as possible, but no later than 48 hours of accepting custody of the child. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions a crime.
This bill would authorize, but not require, a safe-surrender site to install an infant safety
device, as defined. The bill would require that an infant safety device be climate controlled, equipped with a dual alarm system, as described, and provide for a process or mechanism that maintains the anonymity of an individual who is surrendering a minor child. The bill would require a safe-surrender site that does install an infant safety device to visually check the device and test the above-described alarm system at specified intervals. Because a violation of the provisions relating to safe-surrender sites is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Under existing law, a parent or other individual with lawful custody of a minor child 72 hours old or younger who voluntarily surrenders physical custody of the child to personnel on duty at a safe-surrender site cannot be prosecuted for child abandonment.
This bill would additionally prevent a parent or other above-described individual from being
prosecuted for child abandonment if the parent or individual voluntarily places the minor child in an infant safety device at a safe-surrender site.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF