Monica Kelsey, firefighter and medic who is president of Safe Haven Baby Boxes Inc., poses with a prototype of a baby box, where parents can surrender their newborns anonymously, outside her fire station in Woodburn, Ind., AP

AUSTINTOWN — The birth of a child is usually a joyful experience, but for some mothers, an unexpected or unwanted pregnancy can be a traumatic experience.

In a report to the Human Resources and Services Administration, the National Safe Haven Alliance cited unofficial statistics recorded from 1999 to 2021, showing more than 4,500 babies surrendered through safe haven programs and about 1,600 were illegally abandoned. Of the illegal abandonments, 608 infants were found alive, while 915 did not survive.

Baby boxes, usually installed at fire departments or police departments, offer a safe alternative, and at least one township leader said she thinks Austintown and Mahoning County should offer that choice.

Austintown Trustee Monica Deavers once was in the same position that many young mothers find themselves in — at 15, she had a daughter and made the choice to give her up for adoption.

“She’s been part of my life for 27 years now, and I’m so grateful for that, but I still remember the fear, it was awful, and the feeling of isolation,” she said. “These boxes can provide a secure, legal and anonymous option for any young woman in a crisis. They’re not about encouraging abandonment. They don’t want you to do this. It’s about protecting a life when a person feels they have no other safe option.”

Safe Haven Baby Boxes was founded by U.S. Navy veteran Monica Kelsey, who learned that she was conceived through rape and abandoned as an infant. The company has been in operation since 2016, providing a 24/7 crisis hotline for expectant or new mothers and installing baby boxes at fire stations in 23 states across the country where safe haven laws allow for them.

Deavers said there are boxes in Alliance, Stow and Hermitage, Pa. As far as she knows, Austintown’s would be the first in Mahoning County. She said she has been considering the idea for about two years now and finally brought it to her fellow trustees, Bruce Shepas and Robert Santos, who supported the idea.

Deavers, along with fire Chief Dave Schertzer, visited the Alliance Fire Department, where they spoke with Chief Jason Hunt about his city’s baby box, which was installed in October.

The boxes are installed on the outside of the fire station building with an interior access door, and an alarm is triggered as soon as an infant is placed in the box. Once the infant is in the box and the outside door is closed, the box is locked from the outside. The alarm immediately notifies the fire department that there is a baby in the box.

Schertzer said the infant would not be in the box for longer than three minutes before someone was there to remove it and bring it to the hospital for triage and treatment.

Hunt said the box at his department was the result of a case two years ago when a mother made a direct, anonymous surrender to the fire department. The case was well publicized in local news and led Stark County Right to Life to reach out and propose the installation. The pro-life organization paid the bill for the baby box, which comes to approximately $25,000. There are also annual maintenance and registration fees associated with keeping it going.

Hunt said the baby box kit comes with a packet for the contractor that installs it. The contractor must be registered with the state. Because Stark County Right to Life, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, paid for the box, the city did not have to go through the regular bidding process and was able to select a contractor that already knew how to install the boxes and go through the process of submitting the necessary permits.

Once the job was done, Hunt said, he was very satisfied with the result.

“It was a very positive experience,” Hunt said. “Once you get to the training and you hear the testimony from (Kelsey) and her personal story and others who have found babies, this is decidedly less turmoil than what they went through. I hope it’s not overly utilized, but I’m proud that our community has something like this, so if someone is going to make that choice, there is a safe and responsible avenue.”

Deavers said the cost of installing the baby box will not come out of township coffers, and she intends to raise funds to support the project.

“This is not about a judgment; it’s about saving lives,” she said. “I’m very emotional about it; I hope we can go through with it. We do have opioid money we could possibly use for it. I’m also hoping maybe someone will partner with us. We would welcome that.”