County of Santa Clara
Office of the Board of Supervisors
County Government Center. East Wing
70 West Hedding Street, i oth Floor
San Jose. California 951 10
(408) 299-5040

Fax:(408) 299-2038 TDD 993-8272

www.jimbeall.org

James T. Beall, Jr.

Supervisor Fourth District

MEMORANDUM

DATE:

May 30,2006

TO:

Child Abuse Council- Executive Committee

FROM:

James T. Beall, Jr.

’
Santa Clara County S>m)ervisor, District 4

SUBJECT: Budget Request- Outreach Funding for Safely Surrender Baby
Program.
RECOMMENDED ACTION

Consider one-time budget request in the amount of$50,000 to support
outreach and education efforts for the Safely Surrender Baby Initiative.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

These funds will be dedicated to support outreach and education efforts.
Specifically, these funds will be used for the following:
1.

$15,000 for teen outreach, consisting of production/dissemination of
training video and curriculum, training for school personnel,
refreshments for events, etc.

2.

$20,000 for multicultural outreach, through advertisements in ethnic
community newspapers, translations of outreach materials, training
for community organizations, public transit advertisements.

Acid Free Paper

3. $15,000 to hire extra help trainers to make presentations throughout
the community in various languages (such as Korean, Chinese,
Spanish), as well as work with local ethnic media to obtain coverage
of outreach events, safe surrenders, etc. (This amount assumes
part-time trainer, 16+hrs per week, hourly wage with no
mileage/benefits).
REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION

The Board of Supervisors approved the establishment of a Safe Haven
Taskforce to develop an extensive outreach campaign that builds community
awareness of the law and locations of sites. Cities throughout the County
adopted resolutions supporting the designation of fire stations as official
drop-of sites.
The Safe Haven Task Force was convened in response to the abandonment
of four newborns, three of which died in 2002-2003. Since the County
increased its outreach efforts and awareness of this program, four newborns
have been safely surrendered in Santa Clara County. Unfortunately, outreach
is still needed to ensure everyone in all parts of our community is aware of
the option to safely surrender their baby without fear of prosecution. In the
last year, two infants were abandoned in Santa Clara County, one in the
Burbank area and the other in the Mayfair area at Our Lady Guadalupe
Church. In response to the most recent abandonment at Our Lady of
Guadalupe Church, Social Services Agency staff will be meeting with
faith-based partners to discuss how to include clergy in outreach efforts to
the community and youth groups, so that they can speak to the importance of
surrender to a designated site rather than individual churches.

County representatives from Social Services Agency met with the Mayfair
Improvement Initiative to discuss outreach in the area surrounding the
Church. Social Services Agency will also be providing SSB outreach
material to Most Holy Trinity Church for their upcoming health fair. Staff
also met with Catholic Charities and are working with them to distribute
educational materials, draft informational articles for their newsletter and
partnering with them on education to youth groups.

Additionally, the Social Services Agency is partnering with Public Health,
School-Linked Services, and San Jose Police Department to produce a teen
training video. SSA has received offers of assistance in presenting these

videos to teens/schools from local fire personnel and nonprofits that work
with at-risk teens.

It is essential for the County to achieve the goal of no babies being
abandoned in Santa Clara County. Expanding the program to educate and
outreach to Faith-based and non-English speaking communities is a critical
next step.

BACKGROUND

The Safely Surrendered Baby Law (also known as the Safe Haven Law)
allows a parent or person with lawful custody to surrender a baby
confidentially to a Safe Haven site, without fear of arrest or prosecution for
child abandonment. A parent who is unable or unwilling to care for an infant
can legally and confidentially surrender their baby within 3 days of birth to
any public or private hospital emergency room in California. A bracelet will
be placed on the baby for identification and a matching bracelet be given to
the parent. The bracelet will help identify the child if the parent changes
their mind during the 14-day cooling off period. During this period, the
person who surrendered the child can return to the hospital or Safe Haven
site to reclaim the child. A baby can be safely surrendered 24 hours a day, 7
days a week.