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What is the Safe Haven
Act?
The State of Iowa has joined 30 other states
in creating Safe Havens for infants (IDHS, n.d.).
The Safe Haven Act is a law that allows parents
- or another person who has the parent's authorization - to
leave an infant up to 14 days old at a hospital or health
care facility without fear of prosecution for abandonment.
What is a Safe Haven?
A Safe Haven is an institutional health facility
- such as a hospital or health care facility. According to
the law - an "institutional health facility" means:
- A "hospital" as defined in Iowa Code section 135B.1, including
a facility providing medical or health services that is
open twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week and
is a hospital emergency room, or
- A "health care facility" as defined in Iowa Code section
135C.1 means a residential care facility, a nursing facility,
an intermediate care facility for persons with mental illness,
or an intermediate care facility for persons with mental
retardation.
Requirements for Safe Haven Facilities
Hospitals and health care facilities are encouraged to prominently
display the Safe Haven logo.
Hospitals or health care facilities:
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May
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Must
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Ask for, but cannot require:
- The name of the parent or parents.
- Medical history of the infant.
- Medical history of the infant's parents.
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Notify the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS)
as soon as possible by calling 1-800-362-2178 that physical
custody of an infant has been taken under the Safe Haven
Act.
DHS will make the necessary court and legal contacts
and assume care, control and custody of the child.
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| Perform reasonable acts to protect the physical
health and safety of the infant with immunity from criminal
or civil liability or omissions made in good faith. |
Submit the certificate of birth report as
required in Iowa Code section 144.14. |
| Testify at any court hearing held concerning
the infant. |
Keep confidential any information received
or recorded in connection with a good faith effort to
voluntarily release an infant under the Safe Haven Act
except as outlined in 2001 Iowa Acts, SF 355. Failure
to keep information confidential is a serious misdemeanor.
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Requirements for Parents
A parent - or another person authorized by the parent to
relinquish physical custody of an infant:
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May
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Cannot
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Directly relinquish custody of an infant to an individual
on duty at:
- A hospital,
- A residential care facility,
- A nursing facility,
- An intermediate care facility for persons with mental
illness, or
- An intermediate care facility for persons with mental
retardation.
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Be required to provide identifying information. |
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Leave the infant at a hospital or health care facility
and immediately contact the facility or call a 911 service
to be sure that:
- An individual on duty is aware of the location
of the infant, AND
- The facility knows an infant has been left there
under provisions of the Safe Haven Act.
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Be charged with abandonment. |
Immunity
2001 Iowa Acts, SF 355 provides immunity from prosecution
for abandonment for a parent - or a person acting with the
parent's authorization - who leaves an infant at a hospital
or health care facility.
The Safe Haven Act provides immunity from civil or criminal
liability for hospitals, health care facilities, and persons
employed by those facilities that perform reasonable acts
necessary to protect the physical health and safety of the
infant.
Continue to Conclusion
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