{"id":2843,"date":"2026-07-01T06:33:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T06:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843"},"modified":"2026-07-01T06:33:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T06:33:18","slug":"2-new-safe-baby-boxes-give-yuma-parents-a-lifeline-in-desperate-moments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843","title":{"rendered":"2 new safe baby boxes give Yuma parents a lifeline in desperate moments"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

YUMA, AZ (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 Two Safe Haven Baby Boxes have been installed at Yuma fire stations, giving parents a new, anonymous way to surrender newborns legally and safely in a crisis.<\/p>\n

Read more Mercury\u2019s Thomas says she has received online abuse following suspension for Caitlin Clark incident<\/a><\/p>\n

Local officials and advocates said the effort gained urgency after a baby was found dead outside a Yuma hotel last summer, a case that stunned the community and fueled calls for more options for parents who feel they have nowhere to turn.<\/p>\n

The boxes allow a parent to open a secured door and place an infant inside. An alarm then alerts fire personnel, who respond immediately. The unit is temperature-controlled and includes a small bassinet.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirefighters and medics will rather pull a baby out of a baby box than a dead baby from a dumpster or trash can any day,\u201d said Monica Kelsey, the founder and CEO of Safe Haven Baby Boxes.<\/p>\n

With two boxes now operating in Yuma County, supporters say the goal is prevention \u2014 offering a safe place for newborns and a second chance for families.<\/p>\n

Serana Kissell, a firefighter and EMT with Rural Metro Fire in Yuma County, said she was on duty the day the baby \u2014 later named Baby Sonny \u2014 was found dead in a trash bin. She said the tragedy pushed her and another firefighter to work toward bringing the boxes to Yuma County.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all just sat there and reflected like, man, how can someone do that,\u201d Kissell said. \u201cBut it also made us realize we don\u2019t have the resources to give them the safe option to surrender safely without the incident happening again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Tucson transgender athlete speaks out after Supreme Court upholds ban<\/a><\/p>\n

After a baby is surrendered, the child is medically evaluated and the process begins to place the infant in a permanent home, according to officials involved with the program.<\/p>\n

Kelsey said Safe Haven Baby Boxes are now in 26 states, and she continues expanding the program in communities that request them. She has said her work is rooted in her personal story of being abandoned shortly after birth.<\/p>\n

In Arizona, the state\u2019s safe-haven law allows a baby to be surrendered if the infant is up to 30 days old. In Yuma, the new baby boxes are located on the east and west sides of town.<\/p>\n

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? <\/i>Please click here to report it<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send <\/i>it to us here<\/i> with a brief description.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Arizona ramps up defenses against New World screwworm threat with UofA grant<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The boxes allow a parent to open a secured door and place an infant inside. An alarm then alerts fire personnel, who respond immediately. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\n2 new safe baby boxes give Yuma parents a lifeline in desperate moments - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2 new safe baby boxes give Yuma parents a lifeline in desperate moments - Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The boxes allow a parent to open a secured door and place an infant inside. An alarm then alerts fire personnel, who respond immediately.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-01T06:33:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2843#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2843\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"headline\":\"2 new safe baby boxes give Yuma parents a lifeline in desperate moments\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T06:33:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2843\"},\"wordCount\":456,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2843#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/217aaa5d7de0879e858891c7eeb746d1.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2843#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2843\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2843\",\"name\":\"2 new safe baby boxes give Yuma parents a lifeline in desperate moments - Tucson Moving Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2843#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2843#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/217aaa5d7de0879e858891c7eeb746d1.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T06:33:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2843#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2843\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2843#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/217aaa5d7de0879e858891c7eeb746d1.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/217aaa5d7de0879e858891c7eeb746d1.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2843#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"2 new safe baby boxes give Yuma parents a lifeline in desperate moments\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tucson Moving Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2 new safe baby boxes give Yuma parents a lifeline in desperate moments - Tucson Moving Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"2 new safe baby boxes give Yuma parents a lifeline in desperate moments - Tucson Moving Report","og_description":"The boxes allow a parent to open a secured door and place an infant inside. An alarm then alerts fire personnel, who respond immediately.","og_url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843","og_site_name":"Tucson Moving Report","article_published_time":"2026-07-01T06:33:18+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255"},"headline":"2 new safe baby boxes give Yuma parents a lifeline in desperate moments","datePublished":"2026-07-01T06:33:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843"},"wordCount":456,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/217aaa5d7de0879e858891c7eeb746d1.avif","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843","name":"2 new safe baby boxes give Yuma parents a lifeline in desperate moments - Tucson Moving Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/217aaa5d7de0879e858891c7eeb746d1.avif","datePublished":"2026-07-01T06:33:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/217aaa5d7de0879e858891c7eeb746d1.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/217aaa5d7de0879e858891c7eeb746d1.avif","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2843#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"2 new safe baby boxes give Yuma parents a lifeline in desperate moments"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/","name":"Tucson Moving Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}