On March 8, the Sunnyvale City Council approved a resolution naming all six city-owned fire stations as safe surrender sites, meaning that a newborn dropped of at any of them would be taken into care, and immunity against all charges would be granted to the adult who surrendered the child.

"It's a formal adoption of something we would have adopted anyway," said Sunnyvale Public Safety Capt. Craig Farley.

The state's Safely Surrender Baby law--passed in January 2001--is intended to help women and their families and prevent infant abandonment.

"It has happened in the past, and if the mothers knew they could have dropped the baby off at a fire station, it could have helped both the mother and the child," Farley said.

The law defines "newborns " as children 72 hours old or younger.

The resolution is part of a countywide resolution naming all Santa Clara County stations safe surrender sites, as long as each individual city approves.

Farley said that if a child is dropped off in Sunnyvale, the city's first priority is to seek medical care to make sure the child is healthy. All Sunnyvale public safety officers are trained as emergency medical technicians, so they can provide some care if necessary. After the child is safe, Child Protective Services and other groups will be brought in to find a home for the abandoned child.

As part of the law, there is a 14-day "cooling-off" period in which a mother can change her mind and reclaim her child.

Forty-one other states have "safe haven" laws.