A law passed in 2023 allows for the use of climate-controlled baby boxes where mothers can anonymously surrender their infants.
SAN ANTONIO — Safe Haven Baby Boxes, which the City of San Antonio allocated $250,000 for over a year ago, have no definitive date of becoming a reality as concerns persist regarding the long-term financial investment.
“We have to be not only responsible to what’s best for the baby, but also fiscally responsible,” said Joe Arrington, public information officer with the San Antonio Fire Department.
In 2023, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 780 into law, expanding Texas’ Baby Moses Law. The bill allowed for the installation of baby boxes at emergency sites like fire stations and hospitals. Mothers who wish to surrender their infants can anonymously do so at the designated spaces.
At least 19 states have approved the use of the temperature-controlled devices, which are equipped with alarms.
“If a child is left in that box, it’s secure, it’s climate-controlled, that’s great,” Arrington said.
The stated goal by SAFD in March was for the local baby boxes to be installed by the end of the year. At this point, that may not happen because of shared concerns among emergency medical services, SAFD and strategic partners, mostly revolving around the long-term financial aspect.
Arrington stressed the preference is for people to hand off their babies in person at fire stations or hospitals.
“As we said all along, we would prefer that person-to-person handoff so we can get the history of the baby. What we stress is it’s not a judgement thing by any stretch of the imagination, it’s just to get the welfare of the baby,” he said.
On Tuesday, San Antonio police say a man found a baby on Austin Highway near Salado Creek, on the northeast side. According to authorities, a woman gave birth in the area and left the baby.
Officers found the woman, 37-year-old Julie Alexander, nearby. Both she and the baby were taken to the hospital for treatment before Alexander was arrested; she faces a charge of abandonment and endangerment of a child.
“Something like last night, fortunately, the baby was be able to be transported to the hospital,” an SAPD spokesperson said. “Last we know of, (the baby) was in good condition. But that’s preventable.”