233.1 Newborn safe haven Act — definitions. 1. This chapter may be cited as the “Newborn Safe Haven Act”. 2. For the purposes of this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires: a. “First responder” means an emergency medical care provider, a registered nurse staffing an authorized service program under section 147A.12, a physician assistant staffing […]
233.2 Newborn infant custody release procedures. 1. a. A parent of a newborn infant may voluntarily release custody of the newborn infant by relinquishing physical custody of the newborn infant, without expressing an intent to again assume physical custody, at an institutional health facility or by authorizing another person to relinquish physical custody on the […]
233.3 Immunity. Any person authorized by the parent to assist with release of custody in accordance with section 233.2 by relinquishing physical custody of the newborn infant or to otherwise act on the parent’s behalf is immune from criminal prosecution for abandonment or neglect of the newborn infant under section 726.3 or 726.6 and civil […]
233.4 Rights of parents. Either parent of a newborn infant whose custody was released in accordance with section 233.2 may intervene in the child in need of assistance or termination of parental rights proceedings held regarding the newborn infant and request that the juvenile court grant custody of the newborn infant to the parent. The […]
233.5 Confidentiality protections. 1. a. In addition to any other privacy protection established in law, a record that is developed, acquired, or held in connection with an individual’s good faith effort to voluntarily release a newborn infant in accordance with this chapter and any identifying information concerning the individual shall be kept confidential. Such record […]
233.6 Educational and public information. The department of human services, in consultation with the Iowa department of public health and the department of justice, shall develop and distribute the following: 1. An information card or other publication for distribution by an institutional health facility or a first responder to a parent who releases custody of […]
