The maternal grandfather of a newborn allegedly abandoned during one of the coldest nights of the year has filed for custody of the child. The baby’s mother, Ava Guerra, is facing charges of injury to a child and reckless serious bodily injury.
Over a year ago, the City of San Antonio allocated $438,000 to purchase safe haven baby boxes, which allow parents to anonymously surrender their newborns at fire stations. However, these life-saving devices have yet to be installed.
The San Antonio Fire Department stated, “The City of San Antonio is moving forward with the procurement of baby boxes and is conducting due diligence before selecting a vendor.”
Pamela Allen, an advocate from Eagle’s Flight Advocacy, has been leading efforts to bring these devices to San Antonio. Recently, she visited Corsicana with the fire department to see the baby boxes in action. “We were met by the maker, Monica Kelsey, who gave us a demonstration of how the boxes work when a baby is safely surrendered,” Allen said.
Monica Kelsey, the founder of the Safe Haven Baby Boxes program, voiced frustration over the lack of communication from San Antonio officials. “Right now we’re not having any communication with San Antonio, and I wish that would be different,” Kelsey said. “We’ve had 217 babies and moms come through the program.”
In contrast, the implementation of safe haven baby boxes in Lubbock, Texas, was fast and without controversy. Derek Delgado of the Lubbock Fire Department said, “We received ours around June or July, and we’ve had the baby box for over six months now.”
Legal hurdles have slowed progress in San Antonio, particularly concerns about whether the city should lease or own the devices. The city attorney’s office declined to comment, directing questions to the fire department.
Pamela Allen, supported by Councilman John Courage, stressed the urgency of the situation. “These are the babies we found. Can you imagine the ones we haven’t discovered?” Allen said. “What if we could put something in place that could give these babies a better chance?”
Safe haven baby boxes are designed to be temperature-controlled and notify authorities when a baby is placed inside. “A sensor alerts both the fire station and our dispatch center when something is placed inside the box,” said Derek Delgado of Lubbock Fire and Rescue.
Monica Kelsey, who was abandoned as a newborn, remains passionate about her mission. “I created this program to offer hope to parents in crisis,” Kelsey said. “San Antonio isn’t responding to us. If they want to stop babies from being abandoned in their city, they need to make changes, because what they’re doing now isn’t working.”
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