Council briefed about baby drop boxes

WAUPACA – The City Council listened to a presentation about Safe Haven baby boxes at their Dec. 2 meeting to gain insights on potentially allowing a baby box within the city.
Safe Haven baby box laws passed in Dec. 2023 in Wisconsin, which allows for the safe surrender of babies in baby boxes placed in hospitals, fire departments and police stations.
Currently there are seven safe haven baby boxes in Wisconsin, locations include Reedsburg, Elkhorn, Racine, Howard, Watertown, Whitewater, and Trevor, as well as a recent approval to start fundraising for a baby box for the City of Wisconsin Rapids.
Tara Perz, who made the presentation to the council, said parents can surrender their child within 72 hours of birth, with the Wisconsin legislature considering extending that 72-hour time frame to 30 days.
Perz said either parent can surrender the child, if one parent surrenders the child the other parent has 30 days to come and take full custody of that child.

The baby is also run through the database for missing and exploited children.
“By having the Safe Haven baby box we can raise awareness,” Perz said. “It provides the community with the opportunity to proactively save the lives of children.”
Perz said there are a number of reasons a parent may want to surrender their child. The baby box is a safe way to give a baby up for adoption without any stigma attached to the process.
Perz mentioned the intermittent news stories about babies being abandoned in dangerous places such as a dumpster or public restroom, whereas this box is a way for a parent to safely surrender their child without risking the health of that baby.
So far there has only been one surrender in Wisconsin, which was in Reedsburg this past October.
If a parent decides they want to surrender their infant they open the box, which triggers a silent alarm to the 911 system, once the baby is placed inside then sensors are triggered again for someone to come and get the baby.
Once the parent shuts the door it cannot be reopened, the baby can only be retrieved from the inside of the building the box is installed in.
Once someone retrieves the baby, the baby is then sent to the emergency room to check on health and wellness.
According to Perz, you cannot start fundraising for the baby box until it is approved by the city council and a contract is put in place as to where the box will go.
The cost of the box from start to finish is anywhere from $15,000 to $22,000, along with a yearly $500 fee to cover alarm costs, which Perz said she would be able to raise funds for annually.
Perz said that if the baby box is approved she is ready to start fundraising, starting with her own donation of $500.
The presentation Perz gave was purely informational, and Mayor Brian Smith said that the council will be taking time to do more research before discussing the matter again.
Smith hoped to bring this back to council in January as an agenda action item.