By Kim McDarison

The city of Whitewater and its Fire and EMS department have contracted to install a “Safe Haven Baby Box,” according to information released by Whitewater EMS Chief Jason Dean.

The contract to acquisition the box was signed on Wednesday, according to the release.

The box, which offers a safe place to surrender an infant, will be installed on the municipal building’s west side. The building is found at 312 W. Whitewater St., Whitewater.

The box will be installed “this spring,” the release stated.   

The city’s Fire and EMS department occupies a portion of the city’s municipal building.

As noted in the release, “A Safe Haven Box is a device provided for mothers in crises to safely, securely and anonymously surrender an infant.”

When an infant is placed inside the box, an alarm will sound inside the municipal building.

According to the release, “Alarms will be interfaced with (the) current emergency alarming system, which will notify EMS (that) a baby has been placed in the box. The baby will be retrieved by EMS within minutes, evaluated and transported to a hospital.”

The release noted that State Rep. Ellen Schutt, R-Clinton, authored legislation which allows for the installation of the boxes.

Community members additionally helped facilitate the installation, the release noted.

Information provided by Dean and Whitewater Fire and EMS Chief Kelly Freeman to the Whitewater Common Council during its Tuesday, March 19 meeting, and dated Feb. 22, noted that the “Whitewater Police Department and Whitewater community members are planning to procure a Safe Haven Baby Box … in accordance with Wisconsin’s Safe Haven Law.” 

Further, the provided information noted that the addition of the box would provide a “minimal” internal impact,” as 24/7 staffing is maintained at the Whitewater Fire and EMS (department).” 

The information noted that a financial impact to the city is approximately $15,000, with the price including procurement, training and marketing. 

Fees between $5,000 and $7,000 also are anticipated for installation of an alarm integration system, along with an annual fee of $500 to service and maintain the box, council members learned during the meeting. 

According to information supplied by the city’s Fire and EMS department, a community-led fundraising effort will be launched to reimburse the department for expenses association with installing the box. 

The box provides a climate-controlled environment to safely receive an infant. The box is installed in an exterior wall and has an exterior door which automatically locks once a baby is placed inside. An interior door allows a “medical staff member to secure the surrendered newborn from inside the designated building,” information provided to council members stated. 

Once a contract is signed, the information stated, there is a four-week production time to receive the device. 

Next steps include finding a contractor to install the box, setting up and testing the new alarm system, training the city’s EMS personnel to interact with the box, and an unveiling and blessing of the box. 

Addressing the council during its March 19 meeting, Freeman said he believed the box, once installed in Whitewater, “could be the first one” in the state. 

Following Freeman’s presentation, a resident, Mike Smith, said he was not in support of the project, noting that mothers, he said, already have the ability to surrender a newborn to a police officer. He objected to the use of taxpayer dollars to construct and maintain the box. 

Council member Lisa Dawsey Smith, who moved to approve the project, noted that funding would be received through donations. 

She cited “Hospital Hill” funds. 

Responding to WhitewaterWise’s question through text, Dawsey Smith said Friday, that the funds come through a private donation made years ago — in the late 1980s — to be used by the city to build a hospital. 

“Ultimately, after some length of investigation, it was determined … that it was not viable to build a hospital in Whitewater, and that the funds could be used by request for purchases, particularly life-saving technology, by Whitewater EMS,” she wrote. 

Dawsey Smith further noted that the funds are not the city’s, but, she stated, “the council does have to authorize dispensation of the funds for relevant purchases.” 

A court document, describing the donated funds and their potential uses, is here: http://whitewaterwise.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Hospital-Hill-Order-1.pdf. 

Council members unanimously approved the proposal to install the box. 

According to the Safe Haven Baby Boxes website, the Indiana-based organization began by offering its mission to “prevent illegal abandonment of newborns by raising awareness, offering a 24-hour hotline for mothers in crisis and offering the Safe Haven Baby Boxes as a last resort option for women who want to maintain complete anonymity.”

The organization’s boxes take the face-to-face interaction out of the surrender and protects the mother from being seen, the website states, adding: “The Safe Haven Baby Boxes organization’s primary goal is to raise awareness of the Safe Haven Law. Women in crisis can call the national 24-hour hotline and can receive counseling and assistance free of charge. To date, the hotline has received over 9,000 calls from every state in the United States. Safe Haven Baby Boxes has referred over 500 women to crisis pregnancy centers, assisted in 9 adoption referrals, and have had over 140 legal Safe Haven surrenders. Forty-Three babies have been surrendered in our Baby Boxes. Three babies were surrendered directly to firefighters at Safe Haven Baby Box locations.”  

To learn more about the Safe Haven Baby Boxes organization, visit its website: https://www.shbb.org/.