Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Post file photo

By Esteban Candelaria
The Santa Fe New Mexican

Thirty-one babies across the country were abandoned in dumpsters, backpacks and other dangerous locations in 2021, according to the nonprofit National Safe Haven Alliance. Twenty-two of them were found dead.

Allowing parents who feel incapable of caring for their newborns to safely and confidentially give up their children in safe, temperature-controlled containers known as “baby boxes” was at the heart of two bills taken up by the Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

But amid concerns from tribal advocates and lawmakers the bills would strip parents’ rights to their children too easily, especially when it comes to tribal families, the bills were effectively killed in the committee.

“It remains unclear whether these boxes address the root causes of unsafe abandonment, or if alternative interventions could be more effective,” Micha Bitsinnie of Bold Futures New Mexico told lawmakers during public comment.

Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque the sponsor of Senate Bill 360, elected to withdraw the bill to work on it some more and bring it back next year, and the panel voted 6-4 along party lines to table Senate Bill 499.

SB 360 and SB 499 would have made similar changes, with a few key distinctions between them.

The goal behind both was to anonymize the process behind a parent surrendering their baby, removing a provision of current law governing so-called “safe haven” sites that requires the state Children, Youth and Families Department to conduct abuse and neglect investigations after a child is given up.

Both bills would allow parents to remain anonymous unless CYFD suspects abuse or neglect of a child left in a baby box. The change, supporters said, would remove barriers new parents may face when making the decision to surrender their child. Advocates have long raised concerns that CYFD has been trying to track down every parent who surrendered their children, creating a fear of consequences.

“It has everything to do with protecting mom. We are trying to protect the mom from CYFD going after these mothers in an investigation,” said Monica Kelsey, founder of Indiana-based Safe Haven Baby Boxes.

The agency has said its hands are tied under current law, arguing it does not protect families’ anonymity, but that it was interested in clarifying its role in those proceedings.

On Wednesday, CYFD Cabinet Secretary Teresa Casados supported the bills, saying current law defeats the purpose of providing a safe place for parents to surrender their children by requiring CYFD to go after them.

Opponents of both bills cited state and federal laws seeking to keep tribal families from losing their children to the foster care system.

“This does not work for the Indian Family Protection Act, it cannot work for the Indian Family Protection Act,” said Sen. Angel Charley, D-Acoma. “I think this is a guise for fast-tracking adoption.”

Lawmakers also worried SB 499 called for the state to dispense with a parent’s rights to their child too quickly. The measure requires CYFD to apply for parents’ rights to a child surrendered at a safe haven site within 90 days of that surrender if they don’t try to reclaim the child.

“The 90-day provision is way too short,” said Sen. Martin Hickey, D-Albuquerque.

In an interview after the hearings, Casados said there was a misunderstanding over the bills, noting safe surrenders of children already happen in New Mexico and that the measures mainly sought to remove barriers to families who might otherwise opt for abandoning their child in a dangerous place.

Wednesday’s hearing comes after Safe Haven Baby Boxes announced on Monday that the first baby given up in Belen had been adopted. Belen hosts one of five such sites throughout the state.

“It was just really trying to clarify what we can do, because we’re required right now to do an investigation, which I think makes it really difficult,” Casados said.

Esteban Candelaria is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. He covers child welfare and the state Children, Youth and Families Department. Learn more about Report for America at reportforamerica.org.