A healthy baby girl was safely surrendered Sunday afternoon to the Safe Haven Baby Box at Racine Fire Station 4, located at 3829 Washington Ave., according to officials.
The surrender happened around 1:00 p.m. Firefighters and emergency medical personnel assessed and cared for the infant, who was found to be in good health. She was later taken to Ascension All Saints Hospital for further evaluation and is now in the custody of child protective services, which will begin the process of finding her a permanent adoptive home.
The Racine Fire Department said this is the second infant surrendered to the box since it was installed in December 2024.
“The priority of the Racine Fire Department is always the safety of our community, including its most vulnerable members,” the fire department said in a news release. “We are thankful that this parent chose a safe option and that this baby is now receiving the care and protection they deserve. Resources like the Safe Haven Baby Box exist to prevent tragedy.”
How the boxes work
Safe Haven Baby Boxes are temperature-controlled incubators built into the exterior walls of fire stations, police stations, and hospitals, designed to give parents in crisis a legal, anonymous alternative to abandonment. A parent can place a newborn inside from the outside; once the door is closed, it locks, giving the parent time to leave before an alarm alerts first responders or hospital staff inside. The infant is then removed and sent for a wellness check before typically being placed into state custody for adoption.
Under Wisconsin’s Safe Haven law, parents may legally surrender infants up to 30 days old at hospitals, fire stations, police stations, or baby boxes.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes began nine years ago in Indiana and has since expanded to at least 455 locations across 25 states. The organization says more than 80 newborns have been surrendered to baby boxes nationwide, with an additional 200-plus infants surrendered at other safe haven locations after parents contacted its National Safe Haven Hotline, 1-866-99BABY1, which offers free, confidential counseling on surrender options, including face-to-face handoffs.
