King County task force on safely relinquishing newborns underway

Representatives from public health, criminal justice agencies and human service programs have begun work on a campaign to ensure that people considering the desperate act of abandoning their newborn baby know there is a safe alternative.

State law allows parents to hand-over a newborn within 72 hours of birth to qualified personnel at a hospital, fire station, or federally designated rural health clinic, without fear of prosecution for abandonment.

The new task force grew out of the case of a deceased newborn girl found wrapped in a blanket within a half mile of a hospital in the North Bend area. The infant, believed to be full term, was named Baby Kimball after the bridge near where she was found.

Following the incident, the King County Council unanimously approved a motion, sponsored by Councilmembers Reagan Dunn and Kathy Lambert, calling for the creation of a task force to increase awareness of options to legally and safely give up a newborn.