Indiana

Illinois, Indiana programs spread awareness on baby surrender options

Published

2 years ago

March 13, 2024

Illinois, Indiana programs spread awareness on baby surrender options

In Tuesdays special report, Tia Ewing examines several success stories and delves into the differences in regulations between Illinois and Indiana for parents facing crisis situations.

CARMEL, Ind. – It’s an unimaginable decision: giving up a newborn baby.

However, several local programs are looking to spread awareness and give parents choices.

In a FOX 32 Special Report, Tia Ewing examines several success stories and delves into the differences in regulations between Illinois and Indiana for parents facing crisis situations.

“I’m very, very passionate about it because I think there’s nothing more important in the world than human life, and especially babies,” said Chief John Moriarty of the Carmel, Indiana Fire Department.

Moriarty has been with the department for 42 years and the Safe Haven Baby Box at Station 345 is perhaps the part of his professional career that he is most passionate about.

“This is just what I do and what all the firefighters do throughout the country,” said Moriarty. “We save human life, and we’re going to do whatever we can to do that.”

The box was installed in 2018 after Moriarty and another Carmel fire chief, David Haboush, were approached about the program.

Not only is Carmel’s box one of the first to be set up, but it also holds another record.

“They hold the record nationwide for the most babies surrendered in one Safe Haven Baby Box,” said Monica Kelsey, founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes.

Kelsey believes the Carmel fire team’s dedication to the children in their care is part of why they’ve become the busiest.

“We’ve had four infants,” said Haboush. “Even though the box has been here for almost five years, we really had all of our infants surrendered here in the span of about 18 months.”

Under the Safe Haven Baby Box law in Indiana, a person looking to surrender a child doesn’t have to have face-to-face contact to hand the child off. Instead, they are given the option to place the child in a temperature-controlled box.

“If they want to, they can do it in total anonymity. They can come to the outside of the box. There’s no cameras outside of our fire station,” said Haboush.

Kelsey says anonymity is key to making sure mothers feel comfortable with the drop-off.

“These women don’t have to face anyone, they don’t have to talk to anyone. They don’t have to feel shamed or judged,” said Kelsey. “They can just place their child in these boxes and these babies are picked up within a couple of minutes. And so everybody wins.”

Kelsey started the Baby Box program out of inspiration from her beginnings. Her mother left her at a hospital just two hours after she was born.

“Doing the research for when I started Safe Haven Baby Boxes, I started going back, and I started looking at all these babies that were just dumped in our country,” said Kelsey.

About every three days in America, a baby is found deceased in our country or found clinging to life.

“Here in Indiana, since she started the Baby Box Program, no baby has been found deceased, and so we know that it’s being effective, and it’s working,” said Moriarty.

Kelsey credits Moriarty as a pivotal supporter of the program. Not only did he facilitate the introduction of the box to Carmel, but he also contributed to enhancing the comprehensiveness of the information booklet associated with the program.

“I had our paramedics and EMTs help me write the program,” said Moriarty. “I put together any information I could get on it, besides policies and procedures, and then put it together, and it became a very thick binder.”

Moriarty and his wife played a key role in setting up a changing table stocked with baby supplies next to the box to make sure the children placed in the fire department’s care had everything from new outfits to a car seat.

“So our idea, my wife and mine, was to make sure that that family had everything they needed to start with,” said Moriarty.

Additionally, he creates a baby book for every child in their care, ensuring that their adoptive families have cherished memories of the child’s earliest days. Moreover, the Carmel firefighters have initiated a tradition of commemorating each baby’s arrival with a special birthday cake.

“They said, as I walked back, ‘Hey, chief, do you want a piece of the baby’s birthday cake?’” said Moriarty. “And, I’m like, ‘What?’ And they go, ‘We made the baby a birthday cake,’ and that about broke my heart.”

The Safe Haven Baby Box program currently has operational boxes in 15 states. Several other states, like Wisconsin, have passed a law to approve the program but don’t have boxes yet.

“I hope to see a baby box in every state, city and town,” said Moriarty. “I hope all 50 states allow these baby boxes to be placed. They’re saving human lives. What’s more important than that in this country?”

This program helped save the life of a Chicago area baby when it was dropped off at the Schererville Fire Department in November.

However, despite its success, this program is not in Illinois.

“Chicago is one of these cities where they keep saying they don’t have a problem. And we keep showing them they do. And they just keep ignoring it,” said Kelsey.

Kelsey says there have been a lot of abandonments in Chicago, including one case where a baby boy was found deceased outside a Chicago fire station in 2022.

So, why doesn’t Illinois offer this program?

“We’ve got tons of pushback from Illinois. Tons of pushback,” said Kelsey.

Fox 32 Chicago spoke with two state legislators who were interested in bringing this program to Illinois.

In 2021, one of them wrote a bill to try to make that happen but it stalled in the state legislature’s rules committee and was removed from their agenda two months ago.

Illinois does have a program where new parents can give up their babies, and it does not involve a box.

“It allows a parent that feels that they cannot keep a newborn baby for whatever reason to be able to walk into a Safe Haven site, which in Illinois is all hospitals, police and fire stations,” said Dawn Geras, Chairman of the Board of the Save Abandoned Babies Foundation.

Geras says the benefit of Illinois’ law requiring face-to-face contact is it gives the chance for supportive services to be offered.

“We can provide the support for them to make a plan to parent the baby or a traditional adoption,” said Geras. “If you give a box to a woman instead, you eliminate that possibility.”

Since 2001, the foundation says 159 infants have been dropped off at Illinois Safe Haven sites and that another 92 were illegally abandoned.

While Geras adds that a parent doesn’t need to speak with someone when handing over a baby, she feels her program is safer because it allows new moms to receive help with any potential medical complications.

“We’re already promising them anonymity, the law has been in effect now for 21 years and it works,” said Geras.

Both initiatives emphasize that their primary goal is to save lives and promote awareness.

If you’d like to learn more about either program, you can click on the links below:

Save Abandoned Babies Foundation

Safe Haven Baby Boxes

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Indiana

Indiana Pacers Must Manage Two-Way Contract Player Availability Down Stretch

Published

12 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Indiana Pacers Must Manage Two-Way Contract Player Availability Down Stretch

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – DECEMBER 20: Ethan Thompson #55 of the Indiana Pacers takes a shot over Derik Queen #22 of the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half of a game at Smoothie King Center on December 20, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Tyler Kaufman/Getty Images)

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WASHINGTON – The Indiana Pacers have a player availability puzzle to put together down the stretch of the 2025-26 season, and it involves all three of their players on two-way contracts.

Currently, the Pacers have Jalen Slawson, Ethan Thompson, and Taelon Peter signed to two-way deals. Thompson and Peter have been helpful at different points this season, and all three players are healthy right now. They each project to have a bigger role in the Pacers’ final outings of the season.

But they can’t all play in every game thanks to two-way contract rules, and the Pacers will have to juggle the availability of each player. Indiana has already played multiple games since the All-Star break with just one or two or their two-way contract signees available to play.

That’s because two-way agreements come with a limit – players on such contracts can only be active in 50 games per season (or a proportionate ratio of 50/82 games at the time of signing based on the number of days left in the season). The Pacers couldn’t get by without their two-way contract players at various moments this season due to injuries, with Peter being active for 23 of the team’s first 25 games and Thompson during every game from December 1 through January 17.

During those stretches, Indiana needed their two-way players to field a team or a rotation that actually made sense. It wasn’t a poor use of their active days. But that two-way usage early in the season now requires the Pacers to be strategic down the stretch of 2025-26. They have 22 more games this season but won’t be able to use their two-way talents in all of them.

Peter, a rookie selected in the second round of last June’s NBA Draft, had a rush of games to open the campaign, and he’s allowed to suit up 14 more times this league year. “He’s figuring out what being a professional basketball player is about,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of Peter and his in-season growth earlier this month. “It’s about being who you are all the time, regardless of make or miss. Just keep playing, just keep staying aggressive.”

Thompson was signed on November 30, which permitted him to appear in 39 games this season. He’s only got 10 left – Thompson was effective right away with the Pacers and played often after his signing. He was named to the NBA G League Next Up game, effectively the G League All-Star game, for his performances this campaign.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – OCTOBER 13: Taelon Peter #4 of the Indiana Pacers takes a shot against the San Antonio Spurs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on October 13, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

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Slawson signed his contract earlier today and is eligible for 13 appearances the rest of the way for the Pacers. So, with 22 games remaining, none of the team’s two-way contract players can be active for each remaining game. The team will have to figure out the best strategy when it comes to managing two-way player availability during the final months of the season.

Another consideration for the franchise is that two-way players, by virtue of their contract, can be transferred down to the G League at any time. Peter, Slawson, and Thomspon have combined for 64 appearances with Indiana’s G League affiliate team, the Noblesville Boom, this season. Once the Boom’s season ends – their final scheduled game is March 26 but the team currently holds a playoff spot – then the G League is not an option for two-way players.

So the Pacers have to figure out the best way to deploy, and evaluate, their two-way contract signees during March and April. It’s a lot to manage.

“We’re trying to save games for him,” Carlisle said of the Pacers decision to keep Quenton Jackson, who was previously on a two-way contract, inactive for a game earlier this month. “We want to conserve those games as much as possible.”

Jackson had his contract converted from a two-way deal to a standard deal earlier today, and Slawson filled his two-way slot. It was sharp business for the Pacers, but they lost some available two-way days as a result – Jackson had more than 13 games remaining, but Slawson gets fewer because of the day he signed his contract.

“Two-way guys, your life is a lot of unpredictability of where you’re going to be from day to day,” Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan shared in February.

If the Pacers want to keep their two-way talents around the NBA club as much as possible, their best course of action could be to keep two of the three active in every game and occasionally just have one of the three available. If the team can get to a spot in which they have 15 games left on the schedule and all of their two-way talents have 10+ games left in which they could be active, two of the three could play every night during the final 15 outings. Using all three at once could be difficult, though Indiana may choose to deploy each of Thompson, Peter, and Slawson on the second night of back-to-backs as they manage injuries down the stretch. Putting any of the trio in the G League for a few days is an option, too, but comes with injury risks.

Slawson has not appeared in a game for the Pacers yet this season. Peter is averaging 3.3 points per game while shooting 35.8% from the field while Thompson is posting 4.9 points per contest and knocking down 36.7% of his shots. The Pacers are 15-45 with three back-to-backs remaining and three games left against teams near them in the inverse standings.

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Indiana

Indiana Pacers To Add Wing Jalen Slawson Via A Two-Way Contract

Published

24 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Indiana Pacers To Add Wing Jalen Slawson Via A Two-Way Contract

Indiana Pacers’ Jalen Slawson dribbles during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers plan to sign wing Jalen Slawson to a two-way contract. The 26-year old forward has spent the ongoing campaign with the Pacers G League affiliate franchise, the Noblesville Boom. It’s a one-year pact covering the rest of the 2025-26 season.

Slawson was a second-round pick back in 2023 and spent his rookie season with the Sacramento Kings. That campaign, the Furman product appeared in 12 games and averaged 0.7 points and 0.6 rebounds per game. Since then, he has bounced around between the Orlando Magic and Pacers organizations.

Most of Slawson’s time in the pros has come via the G League. With the Kings and Magic affiliate teams, the forward averaged between 12 and 13 points per game while being a solid passer and rebounder for his position.

That got him a training camp invite with Indiana last fall. Slawson spent all of the 2025 preseason on an Exhibit 10 deal with the Pacers, and he appeared in all four of the team’s tune-up games ahead of the regular season. He averaged 2.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

Slawson was waived just before the regular season, but the Pacers affiliate team owned his G League rights, and he’s spent the entire season with the Noblesville Boom. That’s where the 6-foot-7 forward has popped – he’s averaging G League career highs of 19.2 points and 5.4 assists per game for the Boom this season, including an improved 34.7% three-point percentage.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – OCTOBER 7: Jules Bernard #14 of the Minnesota Timberwolves dribbles the ball against Jalen Slawson #18 of the Indiana Pacers during the second half of the preseason game at Target Center on October 7, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

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He’s been among Noblesville’s best players this year, and with the team losing many players to injury or overseas opportunities, he has recently become the G League’ club’s top option. Even with more responsibility and attention, Slawson has continued to produce.

Now, he gets a call up to the Pacers via a two-way contract. He’s eligible to be active for 13 of the Pacers final 22 games – two-way contract players are only able to appear in a maximum of 50 games in a league year, and that ratio of games gets prorated if they are signed mid-season.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle had good memories of Slawson’s play for Indiana during the preseason. “ I think he’s an NBA player,” Carlisle said. “He’s had a good year with the Boom and this will be a great opportunity for him to play some games.”

Two-way contracts provide a salary that is half of the NBA’s rookie minimum, which would equate to $636k over the course of a full season. Prorated for the current day on the calendar, that means Slawson will make about $161k on his two-way with Indiana the rest of the season.

Two-way deals have no impact on a team’s salary cap, so the Pacers have no changes to their spending reality. They opened up a two-way spot by converting the contract of Quenton Jackson earlier this weekend.

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