Liberty family pushes for Safe Haven Boxes in KC to save newborns
The goal is to save the lives of newborn babies who might otherwise be abandoned.
A Liberty family said they want to see nearly a dozen Safe Haven Baby Boxes installed at fire stations across the Kansas City area.
The nonprofit Safe Haven Baby Boxes said it's climate controlled and designed to ensure the safe and anonymous surrender of infants when a parent is in crisis.
When a newborn is put inside, the exterior door locks automatically and an alarm will sound – which notifies emergency responders so they can get the baby to safety.
'It's terrifying, as a woman [and] as a mother, that there are children that are not being safely surrendered,' Kayleigh Wasmer said. 'They're being left in woods and possibly killed and being discarded.'
Wasmer said her 1-year-old son Abbott was safely surrendered at the hospital—but that almost wasn't the case.
'It's super emotional for us because his biological mother is a homeless woman in Kansas City who lives in an encampment,' Wasmer said. 'And she had expressed several times about not knowing what she would do with him—whether she was going to leave him in the woods or where she was going to place him.'
She said there are no Safe Haven Baby Boxes in Kansas City. Her husband said the closest one is in Savannah, Missouri, which is more than an hour away.
There are six baby boxes located in Missouri, according to the nonprofit.
'Kansas City would like to look into joining that list,' Councilman Nathan Willett said. 'If this is obviously a crisis is when something like this happens and if that is a decision that is made, we want to protect life.'
Kansas has two, one in Hutchinson and another in Salina.
Since taking in and adopting Abbott, they've been pushing for change.
'I would love to have up to 10, just kind of spread out all over in Kansas City and the Northland central area and south Kansas City,' Wasmer said, 'Then, eventually branching out to the smaller cities.'
Last week, she posted a call to action on social media, reaching out to city leaders like Councilman Willett.
'We want to make sure that someone is there to make sure that life has hope and make sure that life is supported,' Willett said.
On Thursday, Willett introduced a resolution to research Safe Haven Baby Boxes, identifying possible cost and locations for boxes throughout the city.
He said experts are looking into the feasibility of several KC fire stations as locations.
KCFD said the department's been on board with installing Safe Haven Baby Boxes since the beginning.
'I think so far, they've looked at identifying 9-to-10 as potential candidates,' Willett said. 'That doesn't mean that all of them will be a station that's going to actually get one. I could see the number being anywhere from three-to-five.'
Willett also said state money could be up for grabs in funding the boxes.
'In the proposed house budget, there's $250,000 available, and I want Kansas City to be able to go after that money so we can utilize this here,' he said.
Wasmer and a spokesperson with the fire department are set to speak at a committee meeting on Tuesday, April 15. The committee could then refer the resolution to full council for a vote that on April 17.
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