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	Secret Safe Place for Newborns For District Attorneys Communications - Key to Saving Lives The more people who know about A Secret Safe Place For Newborns Program the more likely mothers in crisis will take advantage of it. Information about the problem of newborn abandonment and violence is your best ally in enlisting help launching and maintaining the program. The magnitude of the problem of newborn abandonment and violence is a surprise to most people. The Mobile County District Attorney's Office gathers facts about the problem and publishes them on its web site (www.mobile-da.org). While detailed information on the problem on a national basis is not easily found, the following information is available: The United States Department of Health and Human Services reported over 30,000 babies were abandoned in the United States in 1998. The United States Department of Health and Human Services reported 105 babies abandoned in public places in 1998. 267 babies (under the age of one year) were known to be murdered in 1998; 468 were known to be murdered in 1999. According to federal statistics, their parents or close caregivers were the murderers. No separate statistics are kept for newborn murder. Neglect rates for infants and toddlers ages 0-3 years were the highest for all children, according to 1998 and 1999 statistics. They were 9.7 (1998) and 13.9 (1999) per thousand in the population. A Secret Safe Place For Newborns web site publishes media reports on newborn abandonment and violence. Information from these reports often helps people recognize the problem and motivates them to participate in providing this solution. Review of media reports during contacts with organizations that could participate in the program, and with the media can help spur local involvement. Most people are unaware of the extent of the problem. The statistics also help generate media coverage. Reaching the people who make the decisions that save lives - the mothers in crisis - requires a continuous effort as young women reach childbearing age. It is vital to establish a yearly communications program that reaches these women and the people who may influence them. Communications programs that utilize several different communications techniques simultaneously are usually the most successful. The techniques available to A Secret Safe Place For Newborns include publicity, public service announcements, speaker's bureau and posters. <-- Previous | Next -->	Promises to Mothers No questions asked. No prosecution of mother for abandonment. Right to change your mind about giving up your newborn. Health exam for your newborn. Foster home/adoption for your newborn. Requirements Newborns must be brought unharmed to A Secret Safe Place For Newborns location identified by the Secret Safe Place For Newborns sign soon after birth (72 hours in Mobile County) for mothers to receive these promises. Enforcement Mothers who harm or abandon their newborns will be prosecuted.