SB 91 INFANTS IN FIRST RESPONDER SAFETY DEVICES

Sen David M Gallegos

Actions: [1] SCC/SJC/SFC-SCC

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

 Senate Bill 91 (SB 91) allows persons to leave infants with first responders or in safety devices for the surrender of infants, under certain conditions, without criminal prosecution for abandonment or abuse of a child; allows the installation and operation of safety devices for the surrender of infants; provides requirements for installation, operation, monitoring and inspection of those devices; provides limited immunity for operators of those devices; requires the Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) to issue rules to implement the provisions of the Safe Haven for Infants Act (SHIA); repeals a section of the SHIA; and makes an appropriation. 

 Senate Bill 91 (SB 91) allows persons to leave infants with first responders or in safety devices for the surrender of infants, under certain conditions, without criminal prosecution for abandonment or abuse of a child. Section 24-22-2 NMSA 1978 is amended to add definitions related to the Safe Haven for Infants Act (SHIA), clarifying that:

•	“department” means the Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD); 

•	“first responder” means a public safety employee acting within the scope of their employment, whose duties include responding rapidly to an emergency, and who is a law enforcement officer, a firefighter or certified volunteer firefighter, or an emergency medical services provider; and

•	a “surrender safety devi 91ce” is a safe and secure incubator device that may be attached to a building that allows a person to view and access an infant within the device from inside the building, and that is equipped with an alarm to immediately notify the operator of the device that an infant is secured within it.

The bill clarifies that a person may leave an infant with a first responder at a location other than a safe haven site without being subject to criminal prosecution for abandonment or abuse. The age limitation for the infant is removed. 

In all cases, first responders may serve in place of safe haven sites.

A new section is added to allow for the transfer of an infant to a first responder at a location other than a safe haven site. The protocol for such transfers is provided.

A section is enacted to detail the allowances and process for leaving an infant inside a surrender safety device.

A section on “consent for medical services” is added, clarifying that safe haven sites and first responders are deemed to have received consent for medical services provided to an infant surrendered in this manner.

CYFD is charged with working in collaboration with the Public Education Department (PED) to educate the public about the SHIA and the locations of surrender safety devices.

New sections are added to detail requirements for the location and monitoring of surrender safety devices, and requirements for installation, inspection, monitoring and testing of the devices.

Immunity is provided for accepting an infant or for installing, operating or maintaining a surrender safety device.

The CYFD is charged with rulemaking related to the SHIA, and an appropriation is made of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) from the General Fund to the PED to educate the public about the locations of safe haven sites within each county.
 

 Safe haven sites and surrender safety devices are available in various locations throughout New Mexico, and the SHIA is in place. If the bill does not pass, the expanded allowances for first responders and infant surrender locations, as well as the detail regarding installation, monitoring and liability, will not be available, and the language of existing law will need to be relied upon. Further, the proposed appropriation would not be available to support education of the public regarding the safe haven sites.