JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After introducing legislation this month, Jacksonville City Councilman Rory Diamond shared more information Wednesday about an effort to bring Safe Haven baby boxes to one fire station in each city council district.
Under Florida’s Safe Haven Act, a parent can legally and anonymously surrender a baby who is no older than 30 days, at any fire station, hospital or emergency services station, no questions asked.
Safe Haven boxes allow the parent to leave the infant in a temperature-controlled, secure device that immediately alerts first responders so the child receives prompt care.
There are more than 420 of those boxes in the country. The first in Florida was installed in Ocala in 2023.
“There is nothing more precious than a little baby, than life, and with these baby boxes we are protecting these innocent little lives and giving their parents who, for whatever reason, chose to surrender them, a safe way to do so,” Diamond said.
Jacksonville City Council Bill 2026-186 would appropriate funds to place 14 of these boxes at designated locations.
“No one is going to ask any questions,” Diamond said. “It is a very safe and anonymous way to protect these little angels.”
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He said the installation of the boxes would cost the city about $400,000, and then $5,000 a year for maintenance and upgrades to the boxes.
“We want to save the lives of little, precious newborns. It is an awful thing if a mother, for whatever reason, cannot keep her baby. But if she can’t, we want to have a really safe, easy way for her to give that baby up to protect the baby’s life,” Diamond said.
Eventually, the babies can be adopted.
Gerri Woodham is a chaplain and supports this proposal.
The benefit can be for the families, families who are overwhelmed and they want to be anonymous," Woodham said. “This is a way that they can be anonymous and leave the child. [It is also helps] adoptive parents. So many women cannot have children.”
“Sometimes, a brand new mom does not want to let a person see that they are giving up their baby,” Diamond said. “This takes that off the table so that they can just do it safely, legally and protect the baby at the same time.”
Diamond’s bill was filed on March 10 and is scheduled for committee discussion the first week of April, with a final City Council vote set for April 14.
Diamond said if the proposal is approved, he hopes to have the boxes installed and operational by this summer.