The Ellwood City Fire Department blessed a new Safe Haven Baby Box Tuesday morning, giving parents in crisis across Lawrence County a legal, anonymous way to surrender a newborn without ever showing their face. The ceremony at 411 6th Street made the installation the 478th Safe Haven Baby Box in the country and the sixth in Pennsylvania.
According to ellwoodcity.org, the blessing and official unveiling took place at 11 a.m. Tuesday, capping a project that was first announced back in April. Jennifer Jones, who helped facilitate the effort and has a background in social work involving adoption, helped raise more than $16,000 to get the box installed within four months, and secured another $15,000 to cover annual alarm fees, according to CBS Pittsburgh. That same report notes the box itself is covered for 15 years.
The box sits on the backside of the fire station and is monitored around the clock, with no cameras at the location, a design meant to protect the anonymity of parents who surrender a baby there. CBS Pittsburgh reports that when a baby is placed inside, alerts go out to first responders within two minutes, who then provide medical attention to the infant.
How the Box Works
Safe Haven Baby Boxes use a temperature-controlled, ventilated and padded bassinet, and the exterior door locks automatically from the outside, according to Safe Haven Baby Boxes. The organization says an alarm system alerts first responders, who arrive within minutes to retrieve the baby. CBS Pittsburgh adds that the Ellwood City box provides oxygen and offers materials for parents in crisis.
After a baby is surrendered, the infant receives what the organization calls a patient care report along with an immediate medical evaluation before being taken to a hospital and placed with Children's Services for adoption, per the same account. Mariah Betz, identified as the organization's assistant project coordinator, said parents who surrender a baby are not seen or pressured to change their decision, according to CBS Pittsburgh's report.
Why Some Parents Choose Anonymity
Some parents simply do not want to surrender a baby while showing their face, CBS Pittsburgh reports, which is part of the reasoning behind the design. Jones told the station the program provides a path forward for parents facing an unintended pregnancy, and said stigma around the issue can change once it affects someone personally.
Jones also said the only other Safe Haven box in this part of Pennsylvania was in Hermitage, and that the boxes have locations in West Virginia and Ohio as well. A Safe Haven Baby Box has indeed been active at Fire Station One in Hermitage, which WKBN described as Pennsylvania's fifth such location at the time, compared with 23 in Ohio. That station also reported another box was expected to open soon in Austintown.
What Pennsylvania Law Allows
Under state law, parents may take babies up to 28 days old to a hospital, police station or emergency station, CBS Pittsburgh reports. Pennsylvania's Newborn Protection Act spells out that a parent is not criminally liable under the statute's provisions when the applicable criteria are met, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The law defines a newborn as a child less than 28 days old, as reasonably determined by a physician.
A separate section of state law lays out the conditions for that protection from criminal liability: it generally applies when a parent leaves a newborn with a hospital, qualifying health care provider, police officer, emergency services provider or authorized incubator, intends for the recipient to accept the newborn, and the newborn was not abused or the victim of criminal conduct, per the Pennsylvania General Assembly. State law also requires an emergency services provider to take a surrendered newborn into protective custody and ensure transport to a hospital for placement with a health care provider.
Part of a Growing Network
Ellwood City's new box fits into a wider pattern of expansion nationwide. Safe Haven Baby Boxes had installed more than 300 boxes across 20 states as of January 2025, the organization says, while a 2024 analysis from Stateline found at least 19 states allowed newborn drop-off boxes at that time, with more than 200 active boxes across at least 15 states, the overwhelming majority provided by the same organization. Stateline also reported the initial cost of a baby box at roughly $20,000, with a typical annual service fee of $500.
More recent installations show the pace continuing. A box was expected to be blessed at Central Fire Station in San Angelo, Texas, on October 5 as the organization's 477th nationwide and 23rd in that state, according to KTXS. The Picayune Fire Department in Mississippi was set to unveil its own box Wednesday as the 479th in the nation and 12th in that state, per the Picayune Item. Campbell County, Kentucky, recently opened that state's 71st box at the Central Campbell Fire District building, according to the NKY Tribune, which reported more than 70 babies have been surrendered through more than 470 Safe Haven Baby Boxes across 24 states nationwide.
Program totals cited by different outlets vary somewhat depending on when they were counted. WKBN previously reported that 76 babies had been placed in the organization's boxes, citing Betz, while Safe Haven Baby Boxes has operated since 2016, according to ncnewsonline.com. In 2024, Tennessee lawmakers introduced a bill that would require a newborn safety device at a safe-haven location in each of the state's 95 counties, per Safe Haven Baby Boxes.
