EMMIE BOESE
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Infants whose parents need to give them up now have a place to be safe in Hutchinson. Hope's Cradle has made its way to the Hutchinson Fire Department. The department plans to install two Hope's Cradle Baby Boxes at Hutchinson Fire stations in the coming months.
The fire department held a press conference on Dec. 7 to talk about the potential impact the baby boxes will have and the donations received to install them. The Children's Emergency Shelter Home donated $25,000 for the project. The Hutchinson Regional Medical Foundation donated $5,000.
"It's just a fresh start for the guardian, a fresh start for the baby," said Paige Allen, social worker and a board member with the Children's Emergency Shelter Home. "There's organizations you know that you know they're there. They find foster parents. They find kinship. It's just the safest option. It's a fresh start. A fresh start for a baby."
Fire Chief Steven Beer said the baby boxes can legally be installed in fire and police stations after House Bill 2024 was passed at the last legislative session in Topeka. Beer said after the bill passed, he contacted McPherson Fire Department Chief T.J. Wyssman about the idea of installing the boxes in Hutchinson. Wyssman spoke at the legislative session. The baby must be given up in the first 60 days according to the new law.
"We are not always in the fire station," Beer said. "We are training or on calls and different things so we are not always there. And unfortunately some of these children have died at the back door of fire stations so this baby box is actually tied into the 911 center and tied into the fire stations. So once the parent decides to give up this child, they put them in this baby cradle and it's in a controlled environment. Once the door is shut, the parent cannot open the door and that's it."
The baby is then taken to the hospital for further evaluation.
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