30:4C-15.7 Designated sites for voluntary relinquishment of child; assumption of care, custody, control by Division of Child Protection and Permanency.

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 with an adult employee at:

(1) 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;

(2) a fire station of a municipal, county, fire district, or volunteer fire department that is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and does not express an intent to return for the child, a fire fighter 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; or

(3) a public or private ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad that is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and does not express an intent to return for the child, an emergency medical technician, or another squad member if an emergency medical technician is not available, 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, a fire fighter, or a member of a public or private ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad 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 Child Protection and Permanency in the Department of Children and Families that the hospital has taken possession of the child.

c. The Division of Child Protection and Permanency 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 Child Protection and Permanency 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 with an adult employee, or voluntarily arranged for another person to deliver the child to and leave the child with an adult employee, at a State, county, or municipal police station, a fire department, or an ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad as provided in subsection a. of this section ; or voluntarily delivered the child to and left the child at 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, a fire department, or an ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad 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. (1) A State, county, or municipal police officer and the governmental jurisdiction employing that officer:

(2) a fire fighter and the fire department, and governmental jurisdiction as applicable, employing or utilizing the services of that person;

(3) a member of an ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad and the squad, and governmental jurisdiction as applicable, employing, or utilizing the services of that person; or

(4) 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, a police station, fire department, or ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad 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, police station, fire department, or ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad, 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; 2012, c.16, s.68; 2015, c.82, s.1.