ARKANSAS, USA — Arkansas is offering $250,000 in funding for fire stations or hospitals in the state to install a Safe Haven Baby Box.
In an effort to prevent newborn babies from being illegally abandoned, a Safe Haven Baby Box is a location where a baby can be dropped off and the family can maintain anonymity.
"The Safe Haven Baby Box takes the face-to-face interaction out of the surrender and protects the mother from being seen," the Safe Haven Baby Box website says.
"You hear these stories of babies that are saved and found in these Safe Haven Baby Boxes. So it's a program that saves lives, and the state supports it," Hardin said.
Scott Hardin with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said the $250,000 grant application opens in September. There isn't a deadline to apply.
While the organization — whether it be a hospital, fire station, or police station — will have to commit some level of funding for the baby box, Hardin said money from the grant is more of a partnership between them and the state.
According to Hardin, the hope for the grant is to help out about a dozen organizations install a Safe Haven Baby Box with the $250,000 allotted grant.
"There is some technology that goes with it, because you obviously have to ensure that it's safe and the communication tools are in place to alert someone as soon as the baby's dropped off. So it's not something that you can do cheap, but it is something that when you combine with the state and local organizations, we think $250,000 can go a long way," Hardin said.
In Arkansas, there are a total of 25 Safe Haven Baby Box locations. In our area, one baby box is located in Fort Smith, and four in Northwest Arkansas.
Local Baby Box locations
- Fort Smith Fire Station #11: 8900 Massard Rd. Fort Smith, AR 72916
- Springdale Fire Station #6: 1623 S 48th St. Springdale, AR 72762
- Rogers Fire Station #7: 7200 South 1st St. Rogers, AR 72756
- Rogers Fire Station #5: 2525 South Pinnacle Hills Parkway, Rogers, AR 72756
- Siloam Springs Fire Department: 450 Cheri Whitlock Dr. Siloam Springs, AR 72761
To learn more about Safe Haven Baby Boxes in Arkansas, click here.
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