Grand Rapids mother will not face charges for surrendering infant

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – A three-month-old girl is now in the custody of Michigan's Family Independence Agency after being left at a fire station under Michigan's Safe Delivery law.

The girl's mother dropped her off on Monday, saying she couldn't take care of her baby.

Currently welfare workers are trying to figure out what to do with the infant, but her situation also highlights a bigger problem across Michigan.

What happens when a parent says they can't take care of an older child, a kids that perhaps two to five years old, and wants to drop them off at a fire station, or police station, or a hospital?

Newschannel 3 went looking for answers on Wednesday and found out it all starts with the safety of the child.

The Safe Delivery law in Michigan is geared to help out a mother who feels overwhelmed, and unable to care for her child. According to the Kent County Department of Human Services, any child older than 72 hours that's left with emergency personnel falls into the category of suspected abuse or neglect.

“In terms of understanding and interpreting the law if they're over 72 hours of age, then we would have an obligation to assess the situation,” said Savator Selvin-Johnson of Kent County DHS.

According to attorney Bill Maybee, each case has to be judged on its own merits, no matter what the age of the child.

The prosecuting attorney has total discretion on whether to bring charges.

In the case of the mother who dropped off her three-month-old at a fire station in Grand Rapids, the Kent County Prosecutor has decided not to charge the mother with abuse or neglect.

“I don't think the prosecuting attorney is interested in prosecuting someone who's trying to do right by the child where there was no abuse or neglect involved,” said Maybee. “If abuse or neglect was involved it's a different story.”

Kent County DHS says it clearly doesn't want to see mothers dropping off older kids, and so far says they haven't seen anyone leaving their kids behind because of economic reasons.

If an older child is surrendered, DHS will talk to the mother and try to reunite her with her child.

“If a parent drops off a four or five year old, we're going to go out and try to assess what that parent needs to feel confident about parenting,' said Selvin-Johnson.

Essentially, DHS will exhaust every option, looking at counseling for the parents, seeing if there are other family members that can take care of the child. The child would only end up in the system as a last resort.