Drafter
Clerk 03/27/2014
Title
A MOTION to create a safety of newborn children task force for King County.
Body
WHEREAS, all newborn children deserve the opportunity to live and thrive as human beings, and
WHEREAS, a newborn child is most vulnerable within the first few hours of its life, and
WHEREAS, RCW 13.34.360 allows a parent within seventy-two hours of a child's birth to transfer his or her newborn to a qualified person at a hospital, fire station or federally designated rural health clinic and do so anonymously without fear of criminal prosecution for abandoning, or failing to support, the newborn, and
WHEREAS, the safety of newborn children law has been in effect in Washington state since 2002, and
WHEREAS, it is clear that the need exists to educate the public, including parents and would-be parents, on the existence of this law and identify locations where infants may be safely surrendered, and
WHEREAS, on February 12, 2014, the body of an infant was found near the side of a road in North Bend wrapped in a blanket with its umbilical cord attached, and
WHEREAS, a hospital where newborns can be safely surrendered was less than half a mile from where the baby was found, and
WHEREAS, the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services collects information concerning newborns transferred under the safety of newborn children law; however, data on newborns transferred in King County is not routinely provided to the county, and
WHEREAS, King County, as a deliverer of public services to pregnant mothers and parents of newborn children, has the ability to be a leader in effectuating better awareness and utilization of the safety of newborn children law, and
WHEREAS, Los Angeles county convened a safe haven task force that developed recommendations including suggestions for legislation improvements, potential safe haven site expansions, a public information campaign, standardized training modules and materials for providers to ...

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