30:4C-15.7 - Designated sites for voluntary relinquishment of child; assumption of care, custody, control by DYFS
30:4C-15.7 Designated sites for voluntary relinquishment of child; assumption of care, custody, control by DYFS.
4. a. If a person voluntarily delivers a child who is or appears to be no more than 30 days old to, and leaves the child at a State, county or municipal police station and does not express an intent to return for the child, a State, county or municipal police officer shall take the child to the emergency department of a licensed general hospital in this State and the hospital shall proceed as specified in subsection b. of this section.
b.If a person voluntarily delivers a child who is or appears to be no more than 30 days old to, and leaves the child at an emergency department of a licensed general hospital in this State and does not express an intent to return for the child, or, if a State, county or municipal police officer brings a child to a licensed general hospital under the circumstances set forth in subsection a. of this section, the hospital shall:
(1)take possession of the child without a court order;
(2)take any action or provide any treatment necessary to protect the child's physical health and safety; and
(3)no later than the first business day after taking possession of the child, notify the Division of Youth and Family Services in the Department of Children and Families that the hospital has taken possession of the child.
c.The Division of Youth and Family Services shall assume the care, custody and control of the child immediately upon receipt of notice from a licensed general hospital pursuant to paragraph (3) of subsection b. of this section. The division shall commence a thorough search of all listings of missing children to ensure that the relinquished child has not been reported missing.
d.A child for whom the Division of Youth and Family Services assumes care, custody and control pursuant to subsection c. of this section shall be treated as a child taken into possession without a court order.
e.It shall be an affirmative defense to prosecution for abandonment of a child that the parent voluntarily delivered the child to and left the child at, or voluntarily arranged for another person to deliver the child to and leave the child at, a State, county or municipal police station as provided in subsection a. of this section or the emergency department of a licensed general hospital in this State as provided in subsection b. of this section. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to create a defense to any prosecution arising from any conduct other than the act of delivering the child as described herein, and this subsection specifically shall not constitute a defense to any prosecution arising from an act of abuse or neglect committed prior to the delivery of the child to a State, county or municipal police station as provided in subsection a. of this section or the emergency department of a licensed general hospital in this State as provided in subsection b. of this section.
f.A State, county or municipal police officer and the governmental jurisdiction employing that officer or an employee of an emergency department of a licensed general hospital in this State and the hospital employing that person shall incur no civil or criminal liability for any good faith acts or omissions performed pursuant to this section.
g.Any person who voluntarily delivers a child who is or appears to be no more than 30 days old to a licensed general hospital or a police station in accordance with this section shall not be required to disclose that person's name or other identifying information or that of the child or the child's parent, if different from the person who delivers the child to the hospital or police station, or provide background or medical information about the child, but may voluntarily do so.
L.2000, c.58, s.4; amended 2006, c.47, s.124.