Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi and Timothy Jaccard, director of the Children of Hope Foundation, late last month unveiled New York State's new Safe Haven location signs, which will be placed at hospitals and other facilities across New York State. These signs are part of a renewed public education campaign regarding "Safe Havens," locations where birth parents who cannot care for their newborns can safely and legally relinquish infants.

New York law allows a mother who believes she cannot care for her baby to legally and safely leave the newborn at a number of locations, including police precincts, firehouses, hospitals, churches or with any responsible adult willing to accept the baby and call proper authorities.

"The Safe Haven Law should have been the solution [in] crisis situations," Suozzi said. "Our message is simple: if you're facing a crisis pregnancy and feel you absolutely cannot care for your baby, you have options, including safely relinquishing your baby."

Jaccard added, "I want to thank the mother and father of Amy Hope for making a decision that must have been very difficult but was in the best interest for them and their baby's future. I am pleased to say that this year in New York State we have safely received 25 infants into the safe haven program with 9 safe relinquishments in Nassau County alone. With the initiation of these new signs we hope to bring awareness to the public about the locations of the safe haven programs."

The Safe Haven Law, formally adopted in New York State in 2001 as the Infant Abandonment Protection Act, ensures birthmothers in crisis are made aware of all their options: making a parenting plan with their families, working out an adoption plan or making a relinquishment plan with no questions asked.

The Baby Safe Haven Hotline, run by the Children of Hope Foundation, can be reached at 1-877-796-HOPE. In 2006, the hotline received 2,403 calls. Of those, 105 birthmothers chose a parenting plan but needed help and were placed into mother-and-child programs; 23 birthmothers made an adoption plan, and 14 relinquished their newborns into our the Safe Haven Program. The organization also had the sad duty of making funeral arrangements for six newborns.

In the past five years, 47 states have passed legislation that designates specific locations as safe places for desperate parents to relinquish their unharmed newborns safely, legally, and anonymously. To date, 1,130 babies nationally have been relinquished through Safe Haven organizations; in Nassau County, nine babies have been saved in 2007, with one just this week.

The Children of Hope Foundation has combined their efforts with other Safe Havens throughout the country to form the National Safe Haven Alliance (NSHA), based in Washington, D.C. The mission of the NSHA is to support states' efforts to prevent infanticide and unsafe newborn abandonment through safe haven relinquishments. NSHA activities will promote its mission by publicizing the existence of this safe legal alternative and by providing resources to states and state-based organizations.