I was curious about the Safe Surrender statistics and I was able to find the numbers for California and LA County. It is surprisingly hard to find the statistics for the program. It has been in effect for 5 years already, and has been extended permanently recently (it was originally set to expire 01/01/06). This is not a very long time and we are not tallking about a huge amounts of data! I don't have time, but I would really like to see how this and similar programs work in other states/counties - according to www.babysafe.ca.gov, at least 46 states have similar programs in place.

There is very little information on www.babysafe.ca.gov, just a few pdf files - brochures for the program and a "Fast Facts" document, with some very basic information, including the following:

1. As of January 2006, 122 newborns have been safely surrendered in California, while another 130 infants have been found alive following their illegal abandonment.

2. In 2005, 51 babies were safely surrendered in California, making it the largest yearly total since the SSB went into effect. Los Angeles county leads the state with 44 babies safely surrendered since the program began.

So, the numbers clearly exist, buy why doesn't this, presumbly official program website, publish all the data available - why just a short summary (an excerp really, not a summary). This leaves so many questions: how many babies died after illegal abandonment; why give numbers for 2005 only - OK, it's the record year, but are the numbers growing steadily or?, and how many babies were abandoned in the same year (and since the program began); and why compare total for a year in California with a total of all 5 years for LA County?

www.babysafela.org shows data for LA county for a period from 1999 until 04/04/06 (which does not inlcude two recent illegal abandonments reported in the new lately - both babies died; and one safe surrender at a fire station - and this is only the cases I have heard about). Here is the data:

Year	Safe Surrenders	Abandonments
1999	0	6
2000	0	3 (3 of which died)
2001	0	14 (11 of which died)
2002	10	13 (8 of which died)
2003	8	8 (7 of which died)
2004	10	8 (7 of which died)
2005	8	4 (4 of which died)
2006	5	2 (2 of which died)

These are really sad numbers. Even though it seems that a year after the program started, children began to be surredered in the program, the number of all babies legally and ilegally abandoned has almost doubled! Did more women decide to abandon their babies (legally) becuse of the program? Were those the women that would not abandon their babies if it were not for this program? Was the information not reaching the right people? I wonder, now, after 5 years, looking at all the data - what could be said bout this program - successful? What else could be done to reduce the number of illegally abandoned babies?

Are you pregnant and have decided not to keep your baby after delivery? Did you know that, as the parent, you can drop off your baby at Safe Surrender Sites?
The Safely Surrendered Baby Law allows parents to drop off their baby to any County fire station or hospital emergency room without fear of prosecution.
No Questions Asked, Guaranteed Confidentiality, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

Despite this California law called Safe Surrender babies are still being abandoned. The law went into effect January 1, 2001 and since 2002:

41 newborns have been safely surrendered, seven infants have been found abandoned and survived, and 28 have been abandoned and died

and this is just for LA (nbc4 TV story). I wonder why is the number of abandoned babies so high. Is this law not advertised enough, or to the right people? 41 babies surrendered, 35 abandoned! I would like to know how these numbers changed over the years - has there been less abandonment in recent years? Are these babies abandoned within the 72 hours limit or after? These numbers are really sad: is it really easier to abandon your baby than to drop it off at a hospital or a fire station? Sad...

I found this today at danah's blog. This is very true...

A few weeks ago, a father told me that when he became a parent, his father reminded him that parents must give their children two things: roots and wings. Give them roots to keep them grounded through tough times. Give them wings to soar above everything, explore new worlds and fly farther than we ever did.

Here is the original post.

Luka has been obsessed with firetrucks (or tinu-ninu, as he calls them) so I wanted to make a simple quilt for him using some fire truck fabric for the top - just as one panel. Here are some of the fabrics I like (by the way - there are many more of these out there, but many of them use vey realistic, almost photographic depictions of fire trucks, which I find confusing and cluttered and not appealing at all). The first image is Kaufman "Movin' On" from Bear Paw Quilting, and the other two are from eQuilter, the first one is flannel "Fire Engines and Police Cars", the second one is cotton called "Little Firefighters". I am leaning towards the last one... for now...

Finally, I found the following two "transportation" related fabrics at eQuilter, both vintage inspired. I really like them, I just have to think of a project (which should not be too hard...)