Safe Havens For Newborns Program | Ohio Department Of Job And Family Services

Not all women who get pregnant are ready to raise a child. Sometimes they see no options except to abandon the baby. Safe Havens provides an option. It allows a birth parent to leave a newborn infant (up to 30 days old) with any medical worker, hospital, fire department or other emergency service organization, or a peace officer at a law enforcement agency. If the infant is left with a person at one of these places, and has not been abused, the parent will face no legal consequences for making this choice. The birth parent (mother or father) can take a child to a Safe Haven. The law provides protection from prosecution only for the child's parents.

Data provided by

211 Pathways

Physical Address

30 East Broad Street, 32nd Floor, Columbus, OH 43215

Hours

Mon-Fri 8am-5pm.

Fax

(614) 466-2815

Application process

The birth parent is not required to provide any information, including his or her name. However, it would help the baby if the birth parent chose to provide basic health information.

Fee

None.

Eligibility

Birth parent (mother or father).

Service area

Ohio

Agency info

Ohio Department Of Job And Family Services

ODJFS is responsible for supervising the state’s public assistance, workforce development, unemployment compensation, child and adult protective services, adoption, child care, and child support programs. ODJFS also is the single state agency responsible for the administration of Ohio’s Medicaid program.