Mississippi’s 12th Safe Haven baby box unveiled, blessed in Picayune

Mississippi's 12th Safe Haven. Mississippi's 12th Safe Haven baby box unveiled, blessed in Picayune.

Key points

• Throughout the nation there are now 479 Safe Haven baby boxes, through which 87 babies have been surrendered since 2016, Kelly stated.
• The Safe Haven Baby Boxes organization additionally offers a 24-hour hotline that has facilitated more than 250 face-to-face surrenders and assisted 9, 000 families in other ways.
• Along with the boxes in Picayune and Long Beach, a baby box can be discovered in the cities of Waveland, Madison, Senatobia, Booneville, Tupelo, Mendenhall, Collins and Hattiesburg.
• Picayune is now the 12 location of a Safe Haven Baby Box in the state of Mississippi.
• Jennifer Boehn, a participant of the 2026 Leadership Class, remarked she pitched the idea.

Picayune is now the 12 location of a Safe Haven Baby Box in the state of Mississippi. From left Caitlin Kelly, Rep. Stacey Hobgood-Wilkes, State Senator Angela Hill and Debbie Benoit stand next to the box during it's blessing on Wednesday. (Photo by Jeremy Pittari Magnolia Tribune).

Meanwhile, the baby boxes provide parents in distress with an option to anonymously surrender their infant in hopes of finding their child a new home.

To further backing access and apply of Mississippi's Safe Haven law, the 12th baby box has been installed in Picayune.

On Wednesday, local and state authorities gathered outside of the Picayune Fire Department central fire station to officially unveil and bless the newly installed Safe Haven baby box in Pearl River County.

Installed on the side of the fire station that faces Loftin Avenue, the baby box now offers an anonymous method for parents in distress to offer their baby a new home. What is the Safe Haven baby box?

Caitlin Kelly with Safe Haven Baby Boxes remarked the baby box system is the only one in the nation that provides an anonymous method for turning over a newborn.

"This box offers no shame, no blame and no names, " Kelly remarked.

It is an outward facing box installed on the side of emergency services buildings that operate 24 hours a game, 7 days a week. The boxes are climate controlled and connected to a series of alarms to alert personnel inside the facility that a baby has been surrendered.

Communities interested in installing their own baby box should plan to raise regarding $20, 000, Kelly stated. That amount exceeds the cost of the box but covers expenses such as signage and other needs. How the boxes work.

When a mother surrenders her child through the baby box, the system has three fail safe alarms with a delay to provide the mother enough time to leave and remain anonymous while additionally alerting personnel to the presence of the baby.

Once the child has been retrieved from the box by facility personnel, the child is brought to a hospital for a wellness check before moving into state custody and put up for adoption, remarked Kelly. She continued that the child will not be categorized as a foster child but rather a child available for immediate adoption.

Termination of parental rights typically takes between 45 to 72 days, and a baby has to be cared for within the adoptive home for six months before the adoption process is complete.

"The key is for the baby to go straight into an adoptive home, not a foster home situation, " Kelly remarked.

If a mother changes her mind regarding giving up the infant, they have a grace period that varies by state, typically between 30 to 45 days. In Mississippi that timeframe is 45 days, according to Child Welfare Information Gateway.

Picayune's path to establishing a Safe Haven baby box has been years in the making.

In 1992 a Picayune area farmer looking for food for his flock in the dumpster behind what was then Mr. Gatti's Pizza discovered a deceased newborn in a bag. The investigation into the death went cold for decades until the Picayune Police Department revived it in 2021 using DNA evidence to identify the parents. It were deemed responsible for the child's death. The parents were arrested for murder two years afterwards.

"I want to thank our Picayune Police Department for never giving up on that case, " State Senator Angela Hill (R) remarked after recalling the story to the audience at the baby box blessing.

Hill remarked she employed that story on the floor of the Mississippi Senate to argue for the passage of a bill that extended the number of days a parent could surrender a child from its initial time of three to seven days.

In practice, the state senator from Pearl River County cited former Fire Chief Keith Brown as the driving force to obtain the bill passed.

"He said, 'Angela, we need to expand that law.' He said, 'We need to give women a longer opportunity and more places to be able to safely drop that baby off, '" Hill remarked.

Brown remarked he approached Hill after he was challenged by a Florida-based fire chief during a Southeastern Fire Chiefs gathering to establish at least one baby box. While the effort to actually have a box installed took a number of years, Brown believes it will be beneficial now that it has come to fruition.

"If we save one life it's well worth it, " Brown remarked. "Like it's already been said, I hope we don't have to use it but if we can save one life it's worth every piece of effort that was put into it."

Hill additionally provided credit to fellow Pearl River County lawmaker State Rep. Stacey Hobgood-Wilkes (R) for helping obtain the time extension bill passed.

Baby boxes became legal options to surrender a child in Mississippi in 2023, Hill observed. Other options for where a parent can surrender a child include a hospital, ambulance service station, or any other emergency medical service provider that is open 24 hours a day. Installation of the box.

Fundraising to pay for Picayune's baby box was spearheaded by Pearl River County Republican Women President Debbie Benoit, with support from the Greater Picayune Area Chamber of Commerce Leadership Class of 2026. Donations came from dozens of businesses, churches, civic organizations and private donors.

"This community, not only did they say, 'Here's a check, ' they remarked, 'What more can I do? How much more can I offer? Can I double what's given?'" Benoit remarked.

Picayune Fire Chief Josh Abercrombie remarked the county Republican Women leader signed the first contract with the city to secure the box installed, followed by the Picayune Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Class that landed on the same idea for their class project.

Jennifer Boehn, a participant of the 2026 Leadership Class, remarked she pitched the idea. She saw it as a fitting project since she is the Executive Director of Hope Haven, an organization that provides a safe space for local law enforcement and Child Protective Services to conduct forensic interviews as part of child abuse case investigations.

"But one of the other missions that we have is prevention, and we really felt like supporting the baby box is a way that we can prevent child abuse from happening and also child fatalities, " Bohen remarked.

Benoit remarked the community fundraiser for Picayune's baby box tripled the $20, 000 goal. Growing throughout the state and nationwide.

Throughout the nation there are now 479 Safe Haven baby boxes, through which 87 babies have been surrendered since 2016, Kelly stated. Three of the 87 babies surrendered through the boxes were in Mississippi. "They are all healthy, happy and adopted, " Kelly remarked.

In practice, a majority of the expansion in the number of boxes throughout the nation has occurred within the last four to five years.

"My husband and I spearheaded the legislation change in Mississippi in 2023, and when I started talking about boxes in 2022 there were only 121 boxes in the nation, " Kelly described.

Meanwhile, the first box installed in the U.S. Was in Indiana in 2016. Mississippi was the first southern state to have a baby box installed. It was placed in Long Beach in 2023, Kelly remarked.

Along with the boxes in Picayune and Long Beach, a baby box can be discovered in the cities of Waveland, Madison, Senatobia, Booneville, Tupelo, Mendenhall, Collins and Hattiesburg. Two more boxes are located in Gulfport.

Meanwhile, the Safe Haven Baby Boxes organization additionally offers a 24-hour hotline that has facilitated more than 250 face-to-face surrenders and assisted 9, 000 families in other ways.

"It's such a major component of our organization, it really is. We have more face-to-face surrenders over the hotline, " Kelly remarked. Regarding the Author(s).

Jeremy Pittari is a lifelong resident of the Gulf Coast. Born and raised in Slidell, La., he moved to South Mississippi in the early 90s. Jeremy earned an associate in arts from Pearl River Community College and went on to attend the University of Southern Mississippi, where he earned a bachelor's of arts in journalism. A week after Hurricane Katrina, he began an internship as a reporter with the community newspaper in Pearl River County. After graduation, he accepted a full-time position at that news outlet where he covered the recovery process post Katrina in Pearl River and Hancock Counties. For almost 17 years he wrote concerning local administration, education, law enforcement, crime, business and a variety of other topics. Email Jeremy: [email protected].

News Associated Press October 7, 2026.

In short, mississippi’ s 12th Safe Haven baby box unveiled, blessed in Picayune is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.