Ky.gov
Effective: 2/16/2022

2.7 Safe Infant Act-Intake

Legal Authority

Introduction

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The Kentucky Safe Infants Act allows parents to leave newborn infants less than thirty (30) days old at a staffed police station, fire station, hospital, or participating place of worship without fear of criminal prosecution or allegation of neglect. 


The medical provider, firefighter, police officer, or staff member at a participating place of worship should ensure the child is seen at the nearest emergency room for evaluation and contact child protective services (CPS).  If there are no indicators of abuse or neglect, the Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) will initiate the report following the non-investigatory response path under Safe Infant, as no further Structured Decision Making (SDM®) tools are required. 

If the parent(s) does not come forward within the initial thirty (30) days of placement, DCBS requests a waiver of reasonable efforts and proceeds with termination of parental rights (TPR).  

Safe Infant reports are not received often, so there may be confusion regarding how these reports are entered and managed. The Child Protection Branch has a specialist designated to assist and consult on Safe Infant cases.  Should you require additional guidance, please send an email to DCBSChildProtection@ky.gov. 


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Practice Guidance

  • ​A parent may enact the Safe Infants Act​ at any point within the first thirty (30) days of a child’s life, including following delivery in a hospital/birthing center. 
  • Individuals may not know the exact terminology (example: “place the child for adoption” rather than stating the Safe Infant Act) to use when relinquishing an infant.  The hospital or reporting source should determine the intentions of the parent(s) through their assessment.  The hospital or reporting source must communicate the parents’ wishes accurately to DCBS, so the appropriate actions are taken. 

Procedure

​The Central Intake SSW:

  1. ​Verifies with the reporting source:​​
    1. That the child is medically deemed to be less than thirty (30) days old; and
    2. That no signs of abuse or neglect were noted regarding the infant.Ensures that no identifying information is listed in the report/TWIST for the birth mother or any other household member;
  2. Ensures that the child's date of birth and county where the child was relinquished is entered. ​The child is listed in TWIST as “unknown" or “Baby Jane/John Doe" (or a similar naming technique);
  3. Enters the case under the unknown baby's name;
  4. Follows SDM® intake assessment procedures and enters the report utilizing the non-investigatory response path under Safe Infant as no further SDM® tools are required; and 
  5. Sends the report to the county in which the child was relinquished. 

Documents

Revisions