RÉSUMÉ DIGEST
ACT 84 (HB 237) 2016 Regular Session Willmott
Existing law known as the "Safe Haven Law", Ch.C. Art. 1149 et seq., provides a mechanism
whereby any parent may relinquish the care of an infant who is not more than 60 days old to
the state in safety and anonymity and without fear of prosecution. New law retains existing
law, and adds thereto provisions establishing an official Safe Haven symbol.
Existing law defines "designated emergency care facility" as any hospital, public health unit,
emergency medical service provider, medical clinic, fire station, police station, crisis
pregnancy center, or child advocacy center, and designates these places as Safe Haven infant
relinquishment sites. New law retains existing law.
Existing law requires the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to provide
notice to the public of the existence of designated emergency care facilities through certain
functions. New law retains existing law and adds thereto the following requirements of
DCFS:
(1)Promulgation of the image that shall constitute the official Safe Haven symbol in
accordance with new law.
(2)Transmittal of an electronic version of the Safe Haven symbol to any designated
emergency care facility upon request.
(3)Production and distribution to designated emergency care facilities of signage bearing
the Safe Haven symbol, subject to availability of funding for this purpose.
New law provides that the purposes of the Safe Haven symbol are to identify designated
emergency care facilities to the public, and any other purpose which DCFS deems necessary
or advantageous in fulfilling the purposes set forth in the Safe Haven Law.
New law provides that the design elements of the Safe Haven symbol shall be black in color,
and that the design of the symbol shall be in accordance with the following description:
"Two solid lines, each oriented diagonally, meeting to form an apex in the style of a gable
roof; superimposed upon and just underneath the image of the roof being a stylized figure
symbolic of an infant, oriented almost horizontally, consisting of a circle representing the
infant's head proximate to or adjoining an oval representing the infant's body; superimposed
upon and just underneath the figure of the infant being a stylized figure symbolic of the lower
two-thirds of an arm and a hand of a person, oriented almost horizontally and opposite the
direction in which the infant's head lies, with the figure of the arm bent in curvilinear form
upward from the position of the elbow in a cradling posture; the design elements,
collectively, giving the appearance of an infant cradled in the arm of a person under the
shelter of a roof."
New law authorizes, but does not require, DCFS to produce electronic and physical copies
of the Safe Haven symbol with any of the following features individually or in any
combination:
(1)Text reading "SAFE BABY SITE" in all capital letters appearing above the symbol.
(2)A background that is either white or a shade of yellow that is typically used for traffic
warning signs indicating necessity of caution.
Effective August 1, 2016.
(Adds Ch.C. Arts. 1160(A)(1)(c) and 1161)