COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS) announced on Tuesday, April 16, that healthcare professionals at Prisma Health Richland Hospital in Columbia has accepted a newborn infant under Daniel's Law, the Safe Haven for Abandoned Babies Act.
Daniel's Law is a safe, legal option of surrendering infants up to 60 days old at designated locations outlined by law. In this instance, the Caucasian male child was surrendered at Palmetto Health Richland after being born on Monday, April 15. The infant weighed 5 pounds, 7 ounces and measured 16.93 inches long at birth.
The baby is being medically evaluated and, when discharged, will be placed in a Richland County DSS licensed foster home.
DSS says any person wishing to assert parental rights for this child must do so at the Permanency Planning Hearing, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. June 10, 2024, at Richland County Family Court, 701 Main St., Columbia.
This is the third child surrendered in South Carolina under Daniel's Law in 2024.
Daniel's Law, or the Safe Haven for Abandoned Babies Act, was signed into law in 2001 and is named after a newborn boy that survived after being buried in an Allendale County landfill. Nurses attending to the infant named him Daniel. The law designates safe havens where infants may be surrendered. Those safe havens include hospital or hospital outpatient facilities, law enforcement agencies, fire stations, emergency medical services (EMS) stations, or a house of worship during the time the church or synagogue is staffed.
The person leaving the child does not have to reveal his or her identity.