Other options for parents struggling to raise newborn

McALLEN - The slaying of a 15-day-old girl by her teenage mother didn't have to happen, Hidalgo County officials say.

Angelica Maria Gutierrez Acosta, 19, of McAllen, was arraigned Friday on a capital murder charge in connection with the Thursday stabbing death of her infant daughter Gabriela Yamileth Corona. Gutierrez reportedly confessed to the killing under police questioning.

But had she taken advantage of Texas' infant safe haven law, the child might still be alive.

The "Baby Moses" law, as the measure is sometimes called, was went into effect Sept. 1, 1999, and provides for the emergency possession of and termination of the parent-child relationship of certain abandoned children.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families, Texas was the first of about 47 states that now have such laws, which allow mothers in crisis to safely give up their babies at designated locations where the infants receive protection and medical care pending placement in a permanent home.

"There really isn't any need for this to happen," Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas said of Thursday's slaying. "If you're a teen and for some reason you're struggling, there's help out there and you need to reach out."

Countless resources are available across the Rio Grande Valley to mothers or parents who are struggling to raise a newborn baby, officials said. From contacting police to calling the county or visiting a local clinic to discover how to give the baby up for adoption, help is available.

In Texas, parents who find they can't raise an infant can give him up at a hospital, and he will get needed care until a home is found, said John Lennan, a regional spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

"Having a baby is stressful, as you go from not having someone to care for to someone who needs care," Lennan said. "If you decide you can't take care of the child anymore, put the child up for adoption, do a kinship adoption or as a last resort take it to the medical facility."

No child has ever been relinquished in Hidalgo County in the nine years the infant safe haven law has been in effect, Lennan said.

Baby Moses Dallas, a nonprofit organization that promotes awareness of the law, notes on its Web site that the state Legislature has provided no funds to publicize the law, prompting the organization and other privately funded groups across the state to launch their own public awareness campaigns. No such group appears to exist in the McAllen area.

Although not well publicized here, the infant safe haven law allows parents to drop off their babies with no questions asked, but the infant must be less than 60 days old and free from signs of abuse or neglect.

Parents who give up their baby in accordance with the law won't be prosecuted for abandonment or neglect, Lennan said. The baby must be dropped off with a medical professional and the parent needs to declare his or her intent to give up custody.

Furthermore, the parent must also give a brief medical history so caretakers will know if the baby needs to be treated for any special condition.

Designated facilities in the Rio Grande Valley include local hospitals where trained professionals are on hand.

In other parts of the state, fire departments also are designated emergency infant care providers.

Gutierrez is suspected of repeatedly stabbing her baby girl in the chest and neck outside a Women, Infants and Children clinic just one block from McAllen's main fire station.

Though the WIC location is not designated an infant safe haven, it can offer options and counseling to parents and point them to other resources or to the proper authorities for relinquishing their child, said Emily Palmer, a spokeswoman for the agency.

As a last resort, a parent who is thinking about harming their child should call 9-1-1, County Judge Salinas said. They can also call 2-1-1, and an operator will connect them with county officials who can help.

"People need to know that there are other avenues," Salinas said. "They shouldn't have to go to that extreme."