Every day, kids are placed in foster care across the nation. Sometimes, those kids can be as young as just a few days old and be surrendered using Safe Haven laws.
Safe Haven Baby Boxes is an organization that puts boxes where babies can be safely surrendered throughout the country. The organization just placed its 288th box this past week.
Monica Kelsey is the CEO and founder of the organization that aims to prevent illegal abandonment of newborns by raising awareness, offering a 24-hour hotline for mothers in crisis, and offering the Safe Haven Baby Boxes as a last resort option for women who want to maintain complete anonymity.
First responders can request boxes be placed at their departments so that surrendered newborns are safe. There is currently one box at the Fort Dodge Fire Department and one at MercyOne in Des Moines.
Kelsey decided to establish Safe Haven Baby Boxes based on her own experiences.
“Prior to finding my biological mother, I was in the military, then I was a firefighter and a medic. So I’ve always been on the front lines, you know, defending something,” Kelsey said. “When I met my biological mother and learned the circumstances concerning my conception and my birth, I decided to do something about it to help others since I couldn’t change what had happened to me.”
After children are surrendered, the next step is to find a safe and welcoming home for them.
Four Oaks is an Iowa-based organization that has been a longtime pillar of the Iowa community. Originally founded in 1973 with a small building in Cedar Rapids for 10 boys to stay in when they had no other place to go, “Boys Acres” was the foundation that Four Oaks was built upon.
Now, over 50 years later, the same goals from 1973 endure. But instead of a small house in Cedar Rapids, the organization serves all of Iowa’s 99 counties with anything from resources for at-risk youth to housing to family assistance.
“We’ll see a gap in service. We’ll see something that no one else is tackling or finding solutions to it. And we will find a solution. We’ll start a program, and we’ll get it up and running,” Jen Royer said.
Royer is the vice president of operations for the organization and has been with Four Oaks for 26 years. When she originally joined, the organization had 200 staff and was concentrated in the Cedar Rapids area.
Twenty-six years later, there are 800 staff members, and their services reach every county in Iowa. Royer said at least 20,000 people are using their services.
With a degree in social work, Royer came to Iowa for what she thought was going to be a year of work at Four Oaks.
“We believe in our mission, believe in what we do here. Every once in a while, I’m like, ‘I’m gonna leave,’ but I can’t. What we do is important for kids in Iowa,” Royer said.
As a part of the organization for over two decades, Royer has seen the growth that this organization has experienced.
President and CEO of Four Oaks Mary Beth O’Neill echoed that statement. O’Neill has only been with the organization for three years but doesn’t plan on leaving because of the work that needs to be done across the state.
“Four Oaks pulls at your heartstrings and, I think, draws you in and does not release you,” O’Neill said.
Originally coming to the state after being at a job in Omaha before the onset of COVID-19, O’Neill, along with Royer, experienced the effects the pandemic had on foster families.
“The need for foster families has grown tremendously. The need is always there,” O’Neill said.
Four Oaks is actively trying to recruit foster families every single day. Across the state, the need for not only families but anyone willing to help out in any aspect of the organization has only grown.
“We provide services to children that are just born through our Parents as Teachers program all the way to integrated health and homes with adults. If we see that there is an at-risk population, we’re going to figure it out,” Royer said.
Four Oaks works to ensure the safety and well-being of families and at-risk populations. Other organizations across the nation, like Safe Haven Baby Boxes, also aid in this process from a more front-line approach.
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Iowa, like the rest of the nation, has a safe haven law. Safe Haven Laws allow parents to relinquish and surrender their newborns at multiple facilities.
According to Iowa Health and Human Services, Iowa’s specific safe haven law allows a parent or another adult with authorization from the parent(s) to leave a newborn of up to 90 days old at a hospital, health care facility, fire station, or adoption service provider without the fear of being prosecuted for abandonment.
Originally enacted in 2002, more than 60 children have been surrendered using the safe haven law. After being surrendered, the child might go through an organization like Four Oaks to be placed in a safe family or in custody by Iowa Health and Human Services.
The law was created to prevent newborns and babies being killed due to unsafe surrenders. Police are continuing the search for the parents of a baby found in the Iowa City landfill in 1992 with the umbilical cord still attached. The safe haven law wasn’t enacted when the baby was found.
“This is a last resort option. This isn’t what we hope that they’ll choose first. This isn’t what we hope that they’ll choose second, but what we do hope they choose is something safe for their child,” Kelsey said.
The safety of children and at-risk youth doesn’t stop there. Four Oaks is in desperate need of foster families because of the sheer number of kids that must be placed in homes.
“We need diverse foster families. We need foster families in all of the counties across the state because our goal is to keep children in their current school system, to keep them close to their friends, keep them close to their neighbors,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill and Royer understand that not everyone can commit to fostering a child. However, the organization always needs help with donations or encouraging friendships for children.
“Our staff work hard on building relationships with the kids so that we can help also identify natural supports. Maybe it’s not a formal foster home, but it’s a coach or a teacher that has got a strong relationship with that kiddo,” Royer said.
Whether it’s a gas card, time to take a child out for lunch or a movie, or even a long-term placement, the children across Iowa that Four Oaks cares for are in need of homes.
“We try to connect to everybody together, but community support is really important, and it’s for all of our kids. It’s for the betterment of all of our communities. When people open their homes, I want them to know how truly appreciated and valued they are,” O’Neill said.