A homeless mother in Indiana says she ran out of options before she decided to leave her newborn behind a shopping center.
The 24-year-old mother is now facing charges after violating the state’s Safe Haven Law, which allows a person to safely and anonymously surrender an unwanted infant without being arrested or prosecuted solely for surrendering the child.
Under Indiana law, an infant must be 60 days old or younger and cannot show signs of intentional abuse or neglect to qualify for a safe surrender.
The mother says she had considered using a Safe Haven Box or placing the child for adoption. However, due to a lack of transportation, she decided to leave him at the shopping center.
Witnesses told police they saw a woman carrying a child in a car seat across a parking lot before later seeing her return without the baby, according to WTHR.
Investigators said nearby security footage appeared to confirm the same activity.
“An infant was found behind a shopping center and is believed to have been intentionally left at the location,” authorities said in a Facebook post.
‘Intentionally Left’
Police said the boy, who was less than three weeks old, did not appear to be injured.
Officers also found a note attached to the child that read, “I am unable to keep him, needs a good family.”
Authorities were able to identify and locate the child’s mother because the note included part of a phone number and an address, where the woman had been staying according to IndyStar.
Police have not publicly released the woman’s identity.
According to authorities, the woman told officers she gave birth to the child on Aug. 5.
Court documents reveal that on Aug. 24, she traveled from Greenfield to Indianapolis using a rideshare service.
She allegedly told police that she left the baby in a car seat before returning to a nearby fast-food restaurant to wait for a friend who was supposed to pick her up. Investigators said she acknowledged that she knew leaving the child behind was wrong.
According to IndyStar, the mother was already under investigation by the Indiana Department of Child Services.
Shortly after she gave birth, blood from her umbilical cord tested positive for ethanol and glucuronide, a suggestion that she’d been drinking during her pregnancy.
The woman told police that she drank occasionally but did not do drugs and was sober when she abandoned her baby.
Department of Child Services Role
The baby is now in the custody of the Indiana Department of Child Services.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to the agency to ask when it first became involved in the mother’s case and whether officials were aware that she was homeless.
The agency said it could not comment on specific cases, so Atlanta Black Star asked what its policies were when it comes to homeless mothers. But the agency instead provided a statement outlining its protocol for handling allegations of child abuse or neglect.
“The Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) follows a consistent, statewide protocol for assessing all allegations of child abuse or neglect, as outlined in Chapter 4 of DCS child welfare policy.
This includes timely initiation of the assessment (Policy 4.03), interviewing the child and family (Policies 4.04-4.10), evaluating home and environmental safety (Policy 4.13), conducting medical or mental health evaluations when needed (Policy 4.14, 4.16), and collaborating with law enforcement when appropriate (Policy 4.29).
DCS then issues a substantiated or unsubstantiated finding based as outlined in Policy 4.22. This assessment process is the same for all families.
A parent’s homelessness does not change DCS’s required assessment procedures; it is considered only as one possible safety risk factor.”
Atlanta Black Star reached out to Indiana state officials to learn more about the law but has not heard back.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office will review the case and make the final charging decisions.
