Texas Safe Haven Laws: Handoff, Protections, and Penalties

The Texas Safe Haven Law, formally the Baby Moses Law, lets a parent leave an unharmed newborn who appears to be 60 days old or younger with staff at a designated emergency location, anonymously and without facing criminal charges for abandonment. The state takes custody from that moment and begins the process of finding the child a permanent home.¹

Who Can Use It

The law is written for a parent surrendering their own child. The statute says “parent” and stops there; providers have no duty to verify who you are or confirm parentage, so nobody is checking IDs.²

Two conditions have to hold. The infant must appear to be 60 days old or younger, and the infant must be unharmed.³ If the child looks older than 60 days, the safe haven protections do not apply, and placement would have to go through the courts or a licensed child-placing agency. If staff see signs of abuse or neglect, they can detain the person surrendering the child and the legal shield falls away.

Where to Take the Baby

Several kinds of facilities count as designated emergency infant care providers under the statute:³

Any licensed hospital in Texas
Freestanding emergency medical care facilities
Fire departments staffed around the clock by local government employees
Emergency medical services providers, such as ambulance stations
Licensed child-placing agencies that have agreed to serve as providers and have a registered nurse or EMS-qualified staff member on site

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) publishes a list of accepted locations.⁴

Newborn Safety Devices

Texas now allows designated providers to install newborn safety devices, sometimes called baby boxes. These are enclosed, climate-controlled compartments located inside a building that is staffed 24 hours a day and positioned where employees can see them. An alarm alerts staff the moment a child is placed inside.⁵ Placing an infant in one is a valid surrender, with the same legal effect as handing the baby to a staff member.² Not every provider has installed one. DFPS lists the locations that have.⁴

How the Handoff Works

You have two options. Walk into a designated facility and hand the infant to an employee, or place the child in a newborn safety device if the location has one. Either method triggers the full set of legal protections.

You do not need to say anything specific or complete any paperwork. The provider has no duty to stop you, question you, or follow you out.² Once the baby is in staff hands or inside the device, you can leave.

What does not count: leaving an infant on a doorstep, in a parking lot, or anywhere other than directly with a staff member or inside an approved device. That is not a safe haven surrender and can bring felony charges.

What Staff Will Offer You

Before you leave, the provider is required to offer three things:

A voluntary medical history form, with a postage-paid envelope so you can mail it back later
A brochure explaining your legal rights, the termination process, and where to find counseling
Information about what will happen legally after the surrender

You can refuse all of it. You are not required to give your name, show identification, or fill out a single line.² Refusing does not weaken your legal protections in any way. The medical form does help the child’s future caregivers, though, and the prepaid envelope lets you send it in later if you would rather not stay to complete it.¹

Your Legal Protections

Anonymity is written into the statute. The provider cannot compel you to identify yourself.²

A parent who surrenders an unharmed infant through a designated provider is not subject to criminal prosecution for abandonment or neglect under Texas Penal Code Section 22.041.¹ This is full immunity, not a defense you have to raise at trial. The condition is that the child shows no signs of abuse or neglect.

What Happens to the Child

Staff examine the infant and provide any medical care the baby needs. The provider then notifies DFPS, and the department takes care, control, and custody of the child from that moment.¹

The infant goes to emergency foster care. DFPS must file a lawsuit seeking termination of parental rights within 60 days of taking custody, and it must conduct a diligent search for both parents before termination can be finalized.

If You Change Your Mind

The law does not create a formal take-back window. Because termination requires court proceedings, a parent who comes forward before the court finalizes termination can ask for the child to be returned, and the court weighs that against the child’s best interests. The longer you wait, the harder it gets. Once a termination order is signed, parental rights end permanently and cannot be reversed.

The Other Parent

Only one parent needs to make the surrender, but DFPS has to search for both. If the non-surrendering parent steps forward during that search and is found fit, the court can place the child with that parent instead of moving to adoption. The 60-day filing deadline sets the clock on when the window to do that starts closing.

Why the Framework Matters: Penalties for Unsafe Abandonment

Safe haven surrender exists because abandoning a child outside the framework is a felony in Texas. Under Penal Code Section 22.041, abandonment ranges from a state jail felony to a second-degree felony depending on intent to return and the danger to the child, with potential prison time of up to twenty years and fines up to $10,000. Where and how you leave the child is the difference between a protected surrender and a felony conviction.

If You Need Help Deciding

The National Safe Haven Alliance runs a 24/7 crisis line at 1-888-510-BABY (2229), by call or text. Nurses, social workers, and pregnancy support staff can walk you through the surrender process, connect you with adoption agencies, or point you to parenting resources if you want to keep the child.⁶

1
State of Texas. Texas Family Code Chapter 262 – Procedures in Suit by Governmental Entity to Protect Health and Safety of Child
2
State of Texas. Texas Family Code 262.302 – Accepting Possession of Certain Abandoned Children
3
State of Texas. Texas Family Code 262.301 – Definitions
4
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Baby Moses or Safe Haven Law
5
Texas Capitol. 88(R) SB 780 – Committee Report (Unamended) Version – Bill Analysis
6
National Safe Haven Alliance. Crisis Hotline