Infant Safe Haven Laws - Michigan

Infant's Age
Citation: Comp. Laws § 712.1

A newborn may be relinquished. The term 'newborn' means a child who a physician reasonably believes to be not more than 72 hours old. 

Who May Relinquish the Infant
Citation: Comp. Laws §§ 712.1; 712.3

A parent may surrender the child. The term 'surrender' means to leave a newborn with an emergency services provider without expressing an intent to return for the newborn.

Who May Receive the Infant
Citation: Comp. Laws § 712.1

The infant may be surrendered to an emergency services provider. An emergency services provider includes a uniformed or otherwise identified employee or contractor of a fire department, hospital, or police station when that individual is inside the premises and on duty. Emergency services provider also includes a paramedic or an emergency medical technician when either of those individuals is responding to a 911 emergency call.

Responsibilities of the Safe Haven Provider
Citation: Comp. Laws §§ 712.3; 712.5 

The safe haven provider will do the following:

• Take the child into temporary protective custody
• Provide the child with any necessary care and transport the child to a hospital if necessary
• Inform the parent that by surrendering the child, he or she is relinquishing rights to the child to a child-placing agency for adoption
• Provide written material that informs the parent about his or her rights and available services, including the following statements:
  • By surrendering the newborn, the parent is releasing the newborn to a child-placing agency to be placed for adoption.
  • The parent has 28 days after surrendering the newborn to petition the court to regain custody of the newborn.
  • After the 28-day period elapses, there will be a hearing to determine and terminate parental rights.
  • There will be public notice of this hearing, and the notice will not contain the parent's name.
  • The parent will not receive personal notice of this hearing.
• Encourage the parent to provide family and medical information
• Notify a child-placing agency about the child
• Make a child protection report if abuse of the child is suspected or if the examining physician suspects that the child is not a newborn

An emergency service provider that is not a hospital that takes a newborn into temporary protective custody shall transfer the newborn to a hospital. The hospital shall accept the newborn and take the newborn into temporary protective custody.

The hospital that takes a newborn shall have the newborn examined by a physician. If the physician determines that there is reason to suspect the newborn has experienced child abuse or child neglect, other than being surrendered to an emergency service provider or has reason to believe that the child is not a newborn, the physician shall immediately report the suspected abuse or neglect. If a physician is not required to report abuse or neglect, the hospital will notify a child-placing agency that the hospital has taken a newborn into temporary protective custody.

Immunity for the Provider
Citation: Comp. Laws § 712.2

A hospital and a child-placing agency, and their agents and employees, are immune in a civil action for damages for an act or omission in accepting or transferring a newborn under this chapter, except for an act or omission constituting gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct. To the extent not protected by the immunity conferred by §§ 691.1401 to 691.1415, an employee or contractor of a fire department or police station has the same immunity that this subsection provides to an employee of a hospital or child-placing agency.

Protection for Relinquishing Parent
Citation: Comp. Laws §§ 712.3; 750.135(2) 

Information the parent provides to an emergency services provider will not be made public.

Except for a situation involving actual or suspected child abuse or child neglect, it is an affirmative defense to a prosecution for child abandonment that the child was not more than 72 hours old and was surrendered to an emergency services provider. A criminal investigation shall not be initiated solely on the basis of a newborn being surrendered to an emergency services provider. 

Consequences of Relinquishment
Citation: Comp. Laws §§ 712.3; 712.7; 712.10; 712.11; 712.14; 712.17

By surrendering the newborn, the parent is releasing the newborn to a child-placing agency to be placed for adoption.

The parent has 28 days after surrendering the newborn to petition the court to regain custody of the newborn. After the 28-day period to petition for custody elapses, there will be a hearing to determine and terminate parental rights.

There will be public notice of this hearing, and the notice will not contain the parent's name. The parent will not receive personal notice of this hearing.

Upon assuming custody of the newborn, the child-placing agency shall temporarily place the newborn with a prospective adoptive parent who has an approved preplacement assessment. 

Unless the birth was witnessed by the emergency service provider, the agency must immediately request assistance from law enforcement officials to investigate and determine, through the missing children information clearinghouse, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and any other national and State resources, whether the newborn is a missing child.

Within 28 days, the agency must make reasonable efforts to identify, locate, and provide notice of the surrender of the newborn to the nonsurrendering parent. If the identity and address of the nonsurrendering parent are unknown, the child-placing agency shall provide notice of the surrender of the newborn by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the newborn was surrendered.

If a surrendering parent wants custody of a newborn, the parent must file a petition with the court for custody within 28 days after the newborn was surrendered. Not later than 28 days after notice of surrender of a newborn has been published, an individual claiming to be the nonsurrendering parent of that newborn may file a petition with the court for custody. 

In a petition for custody, the court shall order DNA testing for the child and each party claiming paternity. Unless the birth was witnessed by the emergency service provider and sufficient documentation exists to support maternity, in a petition for custody, the court shall order DNA testing for the child and each party claiming maternity.

In a custody action under this chapter, the court shall determine custody of the newborn based on the newborn's best interests through considering all the following factors: 

• The love, affection, and other emotional ties existing between the newborn and the parent
• The parent's capacity to give the newborn love, affection, and guidance
• The parent's capacity to provide the newborn with food, clothing, medical care, or other remedial care
• The permanence, as a family unit, of the existing or proposed custodial home
• The parent's moral fitness
• The parent's mental and physical health
• Whether the parent has a history of domestic violence
• If the parent is not the parent who surrendered the newborn, the opportunity the parent had to provide appropriate care and custody of the newborn before the newborn's birth or surrender
• Any other factor considered by the court to be relevant to the determination of the newborn's best interest

A parent who surrenders a newborn and does not file a custody action is presumed to have knowingly released his or her parental rights to the newborn. If the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the surrendering parent has knowingly released his or her rights to the child and that reasonable efforts were made to locate the nonsurrendering parent and a custody action has not been filed, the court shall enter an order terminating parental rights of the surrendering parent and the nonsurrendering parent.