By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
In March of 2023, a horrific discovery in a field in Whitewater made many wonder just what had gone wrong.
The newborn infant boy, hidden in a box in the field shortly after his birth and death, was discovered by police. The story of his mother – a woman who feared her pregnancy being discovered by a husband she thought would kill her – was discovered, and the woman arrested.
The case against Santos Asucena Caseres Cruz continues – a competency exam was recently done and the case remains open in Jefferson County. But while others determine her guilt and innocence, her situation prompted an important question: what should be done to save infants in a similar situation?
For a dedicated group of people in Walworth County, the answer was easy: A Safe Haven Baby Box, installed at the Elkhorn Fire Department, where a child can be surrendered anonymously and receive almost immediate care.
That baby box became reality with a pager test call the afternoon of Nov. 25, as Safe Haven Baby Box founder Monica Kelsey ran a stopwatch to show how quickly the response would be to an infant left behind.
“Elkhorn Fire,” said the pager call. “The baby box is now live.”
The pager call ended the gathering at the fire department, where about 50 people – law enforcement and rescue personnel, fire department members, and those who helped fund and support the effort – came together to celebrate the state’s second Safe Haven Baby Box.
The first was installed in Reedsburg in September.
Kelsey, who was surrendered herself as a child, called the baby boxes a critical part of helping infants – and their parents – out of extremely difficult situations.
“Today, we give women another option in this community that they did not have before,” she said. “That is 100% anonymity, if they do not want to walk in here and give their child to a person.”
The baby box allows a parent to place the child in a safe, heated or cooled space, with a silent alarm going to first responders to come fetch the child.
The placement of the box in Elkhorn allows quick access to several area hospitals – including Aurora Lakeland Medical Center in Elkhorn – and a place for others in surrounding communities to come if needed.
The road to getting the baby box in Elkhorn was described as long and winding at the dedication. Michelle Shilts, who said she was deeply affected by the death of the infant in Whitewater, began working through the Human Concerns and Community Outreach committee at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Elkhorn.
“Within St. Patrick’s, we also had tremendous support from the Knights of Columbus, the Columbiettes and our ladies guild,” Shilts said.
But when the group started discussing how to respond, she thought it would be through community education about the existing safe haven law in the state.
Wisconsin used to require face-to-face surrender of an infant – literally a handoff of the child from parent to first responder.
“We felt that was too high a hurdle, and one, that if removed, might save a few more babies,” Shilts said.
She then reached out to State Rep. Ellen Schutt, who went to work through various hearings to get the law changed so an anonymous surrender could happen.
“Talking to others, we knew we could get a clean bill that would make it possible,” Schutt said at the blessing event.
Schutt introduced the bill on June 28 – and passed both the assembly and senate unanimously – then the process really started rolling.
Just to cover the cost of the box and installation, about $22,500 was needed. Shilts said every bit of that was donated, “from cutting the hole, electrical, alarm, caulking (and) weatherproofing, even the painting to finish the inside.”
It also involved Johnson Controls creating and donating the panel that hooked into the station alarm and sounds the silent alarm when a child is placed in the box.
The blessing Nov. 25 featured almost all of those involved – including Elkhorn Fire Chief Trent Eichmann and Assistant Chief Brad Soczka, Shilts, Schutt and Kelsey, plus the blessing by Father Oriol Regales of St. Patrick’s.
Shilts also thanked former chief Rod Smith, who helped get the process going. In reading a prepared speech at the event, she said that the death of the newborn in Whitewater was the catalyst to bringing this important addition to the community.
“His loss was too near, too profound and too preventable for us to continue to look away,” Shilts said. “The hours he lived, shoved under a sink and eventually discarded, will leave a lasting impact on our community and the state of Wisconsin.”
