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Maine's first 'baby box' planned to be installed at new Rumford firehouse

A 2021 amendment to Maine's "safe haven" law allows parents to surrender newborns anonymously through a specially designed box at certain buildings.

RUMFORD, Maine — Rumford Fire Chief Chris Reed is watching his new firehouse take shape.

On Monday, he toured the building that by June he expects will replace the aging building downtown.

"We have to fold the truck mirrors in," he smirked, describing the tight fit in the current truck bays.

Across town at the construction site, the bays are much larger. There are bedrooms galore, and near what will be the front of the building, Reed was especially excited about the plans there.

During construction, Reed intends to install a baby box—a climate-controlled, padded box that locks after someone places something inside. It's a last resort for someone who wants to surrender a newborn, 31 days old or younger, anonymously and with no questions asked. A silent alarm would trip when someone opened the box, then another alarm and a page to Reed's staff when the box is closed again.

By all accounts, it would be the first such installation in Maine.

"It's a prime location," Reed said of Rumford. "There's not a lot of services here that would be available to a newborn mother in Rumford."

He continued and said poverty, high drug use, and limited family resources are apparent in town. He also acknowledged Rumford Hospital shuttered its maternity ward in February 2023.

"Why would you want to place a baby where it’s at high risk anywhere, whether it’s where it shouldn’t be outside, in bad conditions, left alone in a car?" Reed said. "It’s a last-minute option to give the mother an option to place the baby in a safe location."

Maine's original "safe haven" law was cemented in 2002. It allows parents to surrender a newborn at a medical services provider, including hospitals, police stations, doctor's offices, and fire stations.

A 2021 amendment passed unanimously through the House and Senate, expanding the law to allow parents to surrender a child anonymously through a baby box installed at a medical service provider building.

Senator Lisa Keim and Representative Rachel Henderson, both Republicans who represent Rumford, applauded the 2021 amendment and Reed's attempts to out a box in the new firehouse.

"We need every support for parents, for moms, right?" Keim posed. "To be able to parent their children well, but sometimes they can't."

However, the 2021 amendment compelled the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to write specific rules dictating how boxes could be implemented around the state. As of Tuesday, they had not yet provided any such rules.

A DHHS spokesperson said no one from the department was available for an interview Tuesday. 

"The Department expects to propose rules during calendar year 2024 through the administrative procedure act process outlined in statute," they wrote.

"We now have a law on the books that can't be implemented," Henderson said.

While the 2021 amendment passed both Legislative chambers unanimously, a 2023 bill, An Act to Facilitate the Installation of Safe Haven Baby Boxes at Hospitals, Law Enforcement Facilities and Fire Departments, died in the Legislature. It would have repealed the rulemaking portion of the existing law.

Leaders from the American Civil Liberties Union and Maine Family Planning gave testimony at the time, claiming there are many flaws with the program, and arguing nearly every case of infant abandonment corresponds with a state's health services failing families. They asked the Legislature to work on issues like stable housing and treatment for postpartum depression. 

On Tuesday, Lisa Margulies, vice president of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, sent a statement to NEWS CENTER Maine about the state's safe haven law.

"PPNNE has not promoted this law in more than a dozen years," she wrote. "Safe haven laws are rarely utilized and fail to meet the needs of someone in crisis. While the newborn may be safe, the parent is likely not. Pregnant people need access to comprehensive health care, food security, and housing to name a few."

Back in Rumford, Reed said the department had already received significant donations toward the anticipated $18,000-20,000 price tag for a baby box. He said the funding would be entirely donation-based and that the project would be put out to bid.

"If we save one baby, it's worth it," he said.

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