City officials begin process to bring Baby Box to Lawton

A project to provide a safe alternative for Lawton women who cannot keep their infants already has a funding source, said Dede Armes.

Armes is the driving force behind a project to install a Safe Haven Baby Box at a Lawton fire station. The device is an incubator with monitors that allows a mother/parents to leave an infant they cannot keep, with the assurance the infant will be safe and cared for before being turned over to medical professionals, then to child care authorities — all without penalizing the person who placed the baby there.

Lawton will be the fourth site in Oklahoma to have a Safe Haven Baby Box, coming behind the first established at Fire Station 21 in Oklahoma City in August 2023, then at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Oklahoma City. Duncan became the third site when it placed a baby box at its Fire Station 2 in Summer 2024. Altus also has indicated it will pursue the project, Armes said, noting Lawton will beat that community to the punch because it won’t need a fundraising project: the Comanche County Memorial Hospital Foundation has agreed to fund the purchase and installation cost.

“It’s time,” Armes told City Council members earlier this month, when she won permission to place the baby box at a Lawton fire station, adding that unlike discussions in other communities, there were no dissenters when Lawton council members approved the project because they know the baby box is important to women who, for some reason, can’t keep their children.

Duncan is the reason Armes began pushing the project so forcefully in Lawton.

Armes, a longtime member of the Comanche County Memorial Hospital Foundation, said she was one to always look at issues and identify things the foundation should be pursuing on behalf of the hospital. She became aware of Safe Haven Baby Boxes four or five years ago, she said, explaining while she didn’t know what they were called, she knew of devices that could be installed at fire stations as havens for infants.

“I was intrigued,” she said, adding the topic was discussed but not really pursued until she found out Duncan had completed its Safe Haven Baby Box project.

Armes said once she knew Duncan had achieved its goal, she was determined Lawton would, too. Those who know her weren’t surprised by her determination.

“Anybody who knows me knows I’m a baby person,” she said, adding while it took Duncan’s news to light a fire under her, she and friend Natalie Fitch were determined they were going to pursue the project on behalf of Lawton.

Armes said she met with Duncan’s fire chief and others to explore what that community had done, then brought back the details to begin talking to Lawton officials in earnest.

There were numerous details to settle, including the box’s location. Safe Haven is specific in its criteria, meaning the boxes must be placed in sites that can be monitored around the clock and have immediate access to medical personnel. They also must be placed in sites outside the view of cameras, to protect the identities of those dropping off the infants. The idea, Armes said, is to ensure the infant is safe while protecting parents against legal measures.

Partnerships make the process easier. Armes said one she is excited about with Lawton firefighters, explaining the fire union agreed to cover the annual $650 fee that Safe Haven charges for maintaining and updating the boxes.

The bigger issue was the cost of the box: $20,000 for the incubator and its systems, and $10,000 for installation. That issue also has been resolved.

The Comanche County Memorial Hospital Foundation has decided it will fund the cost, Armes said, explaining funding will come from the gala the foundation holds every spring to raise money for specific projects. Armes said that means community entities and individuals who donate items to this year’s foundation gala auction will help fund the baby box.

Armes said the project now is in the hands of Fire Chief Jared Williams, an early and avid supporter. Safe Haven requires baby box projects to be handled by fire departments, and she said Williams is ready to take on that role.

That means selecting a fire station and while the final determination hasn’t been made, Armes said officials are leaning toward Fire Station No. 5 at Northwest 53nd Street/West Gore Boulevard. She said the station is on a large lot, with room on north side of the building for installation of the baby box system. That area also is outside the line of sight for cameras. According to Safe Haven Baby Boxes (shbb.org), baby boxes are installed on the exterior wall of fire stations and hospitals to ensure safe and anonymous surrender of infants.

Armes said she isn’t sure how long it will be before Lawton’s baby box is operational. In the meantime, she will continue talking up the project. Discussions already have drawn the attention of a local contractor who is willing to install the box, which would lessen the cost.

“We want to see this operational in Lawton this year,” she said.