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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1310
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 4626
Referred to Committee on COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN
Introduced by:
(KID)
AN ACT AUTHORIZING HOSPITALS TO INSTALL DEVICES ON AN
EXTERIOR WALL OF AN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT TO
FACILITATE THE VOLUNTARY SURRENDER OF INFANTS TO
EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT STAFF.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 17a-58 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2025): 2
(a) An employee designated pursuant to section 17a-57, as amended 3
by this act, shall take physical custody of any infant thirty days or 4
younger if the parent or lawful agent of the parent voluntarily 5
surrenders physical custody of the infant to such designated employee 6
unless the parent or agent clearly expresses an intent to return for the 7
infant. 8
(b) (1) If the mother of an infant wishes to voluntarily surrender 9
physical custody of the infant while the mother is in the hospital to give 10
birth to the infant, the mother shall provide notice that she wishes to 11
surrender physical custody of the infant to any health care provider who 12
is licensed by the Department of Public Health and who provides health 13
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care services on behalf of the hospital. Upon receipt of such notice, such 14
health care provider shall notify the designated employee pursuant to 15
section 17a-57, as amended by this act, who shall immediately take 16
physical custody of the infant. No hospital employee or health care 17
provider shall disclose the name of the mother to the Department of 18
Children and Families or any person or organization without the 19
mother's permission. 20
(2) If the parent of an infant wishes to voluntarily surrender physical 21
custody of the infant after the infant has been born and is no longer in 22
the hospital, the parent may surrender the infant by placing the infant 23
in a safe haven bassinet, as described in section 17a-57, as amended by 24
this act, if available. Upon surrender of the infant pursuant to this 25
subdivision, the designated employee shall immediately take physical 26
custody of the infant. 27
(c) The designated employee may request the parent or agent, other 28
than a parent described in subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this 29
section, to provide (1) the name of the parent or agent, (2) information 30
on the medical history of the infant and parents, and (3) the infant's 31
name and date of birth if the infant's birth has been registered in the 32
state vital records system prior to the surrender of the infant. 33
Notwithstanding such a request from the designated employee, the 34
parent or agent is not required to provide such name or information. 35
The designated employee may provide the parent or agent with a 36
numbered identification bracelet to link the parent or agent to the infant. 37
The bracelet shall be used for identification only and shall not be 38
construed to authorize the person who possesses the bracelet to take 39
custody of the infant on demand. The designated employee shall 40
provide the parent or agent with a pamphlet describing the process 41
established under sections 17a-57 to 17a-60, inclusive, as amended by 42
this act, and sections 17a-61, 53-21 and 53-23. 43
Sec. 2. Section 17a-57 of the general statutes is repealed and the 44
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2025): 45
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(a) Each hospital operating an emergency room shall designate all 46
members of the emergency room nursing staff as employees authorized 47
to take physical custody of an infant pursuant to section 17a-58, as 48
amended by this act. There shall be a designated employee on duty at 49
each hospital emergency room during regular business hours. There 50
shall be a designated place inside such hospital emergency room where 51
physical custody may be taken. 52
(b) Any hospital operating an emergency room may install a safe 53
haven bassinet on an exterior wall of the emergency department for the 54
purpose of receiving infants who are voluntarily surrendered pursuant 55
to section 17a-58, as amended by this act. Any such safe haven bassinet 56
shall be climate controlled and include (1) an exterior door that 57
automatically locks upon the placement of an infant in the bassinet 58
when the door is closed, and (2) a notification alarm that alerts 59
emergency room nursing staff that an infant has been placed in the 60
bassinet. 61
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 17a-58
Sec. 2 October 1, 2025 17a-57
Statement of Purpose:
To prevent infant abandonment and provide a safe and legal option for
parents in crisis to voluntarily surrender an infant to emergency
department staff.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]