SOUTH CAROLINA — In 2000 the state of South Carolina created a law known as Daniel’s Law to ensure a safe way to give babies to a loving family.
Kenneth McBride, county director of Newberry County Department of Social Services, said the law was named after a boy who was buried in a landfill and left for dead.
“It was named after a baby boy that survived after being buried in a landfill shortly after birth. He was found and taken to a hospital, where the nurses named him Daniel,” he said. “With Daniel’s Law you can leave a child at a safe haven and walk away. If you do a voluntary relinquishment, you are summoned to come to court and have to be in court and go through that process. This is quicker way for someone to relinquish their rights to the child, helps expedite the adoption process too.”
The law was then created and made safe havens for infants up to 60 days old. The law defines safe havens as a hospital or hospital outpatient facility, law enforcement agencies, fire stations, emergency medical services (EMS) stations or a house of worship during the time the church or synagogue is staffed.
When an individual brings an infant to a safe haven they have to give the child to a person, according to Marilyn Matheus, director of public information and media service with the South Carolina Department of Social Services.
The spirit of the law is that someone has to be present at a safe haven to receive the child so that the infant can be brought into safety.
“They are supposed to be given to a person in a hospital (or other safe haven). If left outside the hospital, someone might not find them,” McBride said.
Daniel’s Law allows parents to drop off a child, within 60 days, and not get charged with abandonment. However, if the child has been harmed in some way, the parent would not be protected under the law.
For example, if the child tested positive for drugs, McBride said they would want to find the parent so they can get them help, along with the child.
While the person leaving the child does not have to reveal their identity, they will be asked to provide medical information about the baby’s parents. This will help the medical personnel treat the baby for any health problems.
Matheus said that they have found that in the last five years an average of three to five children have been dropped off at safe havens. The first instance for Newberry County happened last November. The child was born on a Friday at the Newberry County Memorial Hospital, and on Saturday they decided to give the baby up under Daniel’s Law.
“This particular incident, the child was birthed at the hospital and the mom decided to release the child under Daniel’s Law,” Matheus said. “We have seen it both ways, we have seen people to have a child somewhere else, and bring the child to the location. Someone brought a child to a fire department not too long ago.”
A large part of Daniel’s Law is anonymity, according to McBride, this allows parents not to go through a lot of the things they would have to go through if they decided to put the child up for adoption.
“The biggest thing with this, if a parent knows they are unable to provide for a child within the first 60 days, allows the child to have a safe haven, and the child is able to go to a home where it can be provided for,” he said. “And usually it is financial reasons, sometimes already have so many children they cannot afford another one. Different things like that, reasons some babies are abandoned.”
When a child is brought to a safe haven under Daniel’s Law, McBride said they will automatically get the adoption folks involved, and the child will be placed into a foster home. He said a lot of times the foster home is identified as a pre-adopt foster home, meaning the foster parents show intentions to adopt or would like to adopt a child.
“We then have a permanency hearing, anybody like the father of the baby see the posting, any family member, can come to that hearing and be heard,” McBride said.
After the hearing, the adoption process will then begin.