MILES CITY — A new Safe Haven Baby Box is coming to Miles City, giving parents in distress a safe and anonymous way to surrender a newborn without fear or judgment.
The program was founded by Monica Kelsey, an Indiana woman who was abandoned as a baby herself. Her mission is to protect vulnerable infants and support parents in crisis.
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Raelee Hollowell, who runs the Outreach Clinic, a pregnancy clinic in Miles City, said the community response to bringing the box there has been positive.
"The city passed it really easily. So they were all excited about what this could bring," Hollowell said.
A similar baby box was installed last year in Lockwood. Hollowell explained how the boxes work.
"They're able to surrender the baby to that box and then the idea is that you know, there's no cameras on those boxes and so they then the EMS is alerted and so that's why it's either in an ER or a fire department. So they have 24-hour care and so somebody's right there and immediately alerted," Hollowell said.
Hollowell said there is a serious need for options like this in the community.
"Situations to where maybe that mom hasn't gotten any care through her pregnancy. Maybe she didn't know she was pregnant or there's concern for, like foster system, you know, they didn't want to be involved in that. Whether drugs might be involved or whatever their situation is," Hollowell said.
Once a newborn is placed in the box, care is immediate.
"That child will be able to get the immediate emergency care that they might need, and then that baby will go to a home for placement," Hollowell said.
Parents who change their mind after surrendering a baby do have a window to reclaim their child.
"There's 60 days. I believe that has to lapse in the space of they've surrendered their baby. And then they have 60 days to be able to come back and show and prove that they are the parents. And then they can get their baby back," Hollowell said.
Each state has its own safe haven laws. In Montana, Hollowell said the rules are specific about the age of babies who can be surrendered.
"The law right now is that the babies are 30 days old or younger is what they're able to do for the baby box itself," Hollowell said.
Miles City Fire Capt. Eddy Kanduch said construction of the fire station is moving along, and the facility is expected to be fully functioning sometime this summer.
"In June sometime we can start moving a little bit and then we can hopefully get fully functioning out of there, either in June or July," Kanduch said.
According to the Outreach Clinic, the Baby Box has been installed at the new fire station, but it is not ready to use.
For Hollowell, the effort to bring the box to Miles City has been worth every bit of work.
"One of the gals that's involved in the project said even if that box is not used for 20 years and maybe used once, that was worth it," Hollowell said.
