MADAWASKA, Maine – Madawaska selectmen agreed to hear a proposal about establishing a baby box in town, which helps prevent illegal abandonment of newborn infants by giving mothers a location to place a child they are unable to care for.
The state of Maine in 2021 amended its child abandonment laws to specifically allow the use of safe haven baby boxes. Maine is now one of at least 19 states which allow them.
Although baby boxes are growing in popularity, some experts have raised concerns about them. Gregory Luce, an attorney who founded the Adoptee Rights Law Center, has vocally opposed baby boxes. Luce argues that states often pass baby box amendments without investing in mental health services for women in crisis, or in prenatal or postnatal services.
There is no national database for legal or illegal infant abandonment. But according to the National Safe Haven Alliance, 31 babies were illegally abandoned in the United States in 2021, 22 of which were found deceased.
Bob Beaulieu of the Grand Isle Knights of Columbus brought the idea to the selectmen’s attention during a meeting Tuesday night. Officials were receptive to hear a presentation from the Safe Haven Baby Boxes organization, but also had questions and concerns about the box’s implementation.
Beaulieu said he was inspired after seeing an article in a recent Knights of Columbus magazine about baby boxes.
“The Knights of Columbus, as far as children or babies, are very pro life,” he said. “Every child deserves the right to a chance at life,” he said.
He said the project is personal to him, as a woman was recently convicted of manslaughter for abandoning her newborn infant in a Frenchville gravel pit in 1985.
“If the Safe Haven Baby Box would’ve been in existence back then, she would have had a 38-year-old daughter that would still be alive today, and probably have her own family,” he said.
He said there would be no cost to the town, as all expenses would be covered via Knights of Columbus fundraisers.
The installation fee ranges from $23,000 to $24,000 and there is an annual $500 fee that covers maintenance.
Rumford became the first town in Maine to adopt a baby box. Plans were announced earlier this year to add a box to the town’s fire station, according to the Lewiston Sun Journal.
Beaulieu said the box would allow a mother to place any child 31 days old or younger into the box at a location like a fire department where there is 24-hour coverage. Once deposited in the box, an EMT would respond within two minutes and transport the child to the nearest hospital for care. He said the baby would later become available for adoption.
Selectboard Chairman Jason Boucher, who also works in the town fire department, said he was not sure if personnel would be able to meet the two-minute requirement. He added that most towns with baby boxes have full-time fire and EMS departments.
“With our department here, none of our fire department is EMT certified at all,” Boucher said. “So they would not even be able to respond to something like this because it’s outside of their scope of practice.”
He said the EMTs current policy is that, if the first crew is out, the second crew has a 10 to 15 minute window to respond to a call, which is significantly longer than the two-minute response required for the baby box.
“I’m not saying ‘no,” Boucher said. “My fear is that we won’t, in most cases, be able to meet that two minute requirement.”
The board did not accept the project during the meeting, but unanimously voted to have an official from the Safe Haven organization come in and answer questions about the baby box system.
“We’ll have other questions, like what if a mother unfortunately delivers a deceased baby,” Town Manager David Daigle said. “There are a host of other questions that we’re not even thinking about tonight that this company could help us clarify.”
