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Secret Safe Place for Newborns For District Attorneys Message To All District Attorneys From Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson, Jr. Please consider using the program described in this manual to help save newborns in your jurisdiction from violence, murder and abandonment. The program was born from tragedy. In 1998, our Office convicted a newborn's mother and grandmother of murder. The two women drowned the hour-old child in a toilet. They were both sentenced to 25 years in prison. These women didn't want the baby. They saw no alternative besides murder. After the prosecution, Jodi Brooks, a former WPMI-TV reporter, asked me a question that suggested there might be a way to create an alternative for mothers in this situation. She asked if we would waive prosecution for abandonment of new mothers in crisis if they brought their babies unharmed to a safe location such as a hospital emergency room. Because our Office focuses on crime prevention programs as well as aggressive prosecution, we were receptive to the idea. We believed it had potential for saving the lives of newborns and the futures of their mothers. We announced the program in November, 1998. I believe it saves lives in our jurisdiction and can save lives in yours. We call it A Secret Safe Place For Newborns. It is difficult to measure results about what could have happened. But we know that in 1997 and 1998 there were six babies killed in our jurisdiction, including one newborn. Since the launch of A Secret Safe Place For Newborns we have had no newborn murders in Mobile County. There has been only one unsafe abandonment. Nine mothers have participated in the program. Area social workers report an increase in inquiries about adoptions and an increase in adoptions. The Board of the National District Attorneys Association unanimously endorses A Secret Safe Place For Newborns Program. It has been recognized as a finalist for an Innovations In American Government Award, the premier program of the Institute for Government Innovation (part of a larger effort of the Ford Foundation and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government) in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government. The program makes two promises. First, if a mother in crisis will bring her newborn unharmed to a designated location, we will not prosecute her for abandonment and we will allow her to remain anonymous. Second, if a newborn is injured, thrown away or killed, those responsible will be targeted for a determined prosecution. As District Attorney, you are the best person to lead this program and save lives in your area. You have the authority to decide not to prosecute abandonment. You have a working relationship with public social services agencies. You have access to the news media. To help implement it, we have used a grant from Innovations In American Government to prepare this manual. Please put this manual to work in your community. It will help create an alternative to violence, murder and abandonment in your area. At the same time, it will help standardize A Secret Safe Place For Newborns concept so that mothers in crisis around the country will know what they can count on from A Secret Safe Place For Newborns locations. Consistently communicating similar promises to mothers in crisis and identifying these promises with one recognizable name is the key to helping the most newborns and mothers. We will be glad to assist you with your questions. Thank you in advance for taking this step to help save lives. I look forward to hearing about your results. John Tyson, Jr. Mobile County District Attorney | Next -->