Wisconsin
Distressed parents can now surrender newborns anonymously in Wisconsin. Here’s what you need to know.
A case involving a Whitewater woman charged last March with neglect and burying the body of a child sparked a new law that allows parents to surrender newborns anonymously in Wisconsin.
Parents will now be able to surrender newborns anonymously under a law signed by Gov. Tony Evers which expands on the state’s previous law allowing parents to leave a newborn with law enforcement and medical professionals without legal consequence.
Since 2012, the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families reported there were more than 200 infants relinquished to state to police officers, emergency medical technicians or hospital employees.
Here’s what to know about the new child abandonment laws in Wisconsin:
What are the new child abandonment laws?
The new law allows municipalities to install newborn infant safety devices, or “baby boxes,” at hospitals, fire stations and law enforcement agency buildings. The boxes allow parents to relinquish newborns less than 72 hours old with no face-to-face interaction.
A newborn infant safety device may be installed if the building is staffed 24 hours a day, the device is temperature-controlled and ventilated, it can be monitored at all times and it triggers an alarm when a newborn is placed within it.
The law requires employees of the building housing the box to use a surveillance system to monitor it 24 hours a day, physically check it at least twice a day and test the device’s alarm at least once a week.
The law expands on the state’s 2001 law that allows parents to surrender their unharmed newborn child with a police officer, emergency medical technician or hospital employee with no legal consequences.
Proponents of the bill have pointed out that those living in smaller communities may be worried that the person they relinquish their baby would be someone they know or others would find out.
How many babies have been abandoned in Wisconsin?
In Wisconsin, 27 infants were relinquished to the state between January and November 2023, according to the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.
Since 2012, 209 infants ages 0-3 days were relinquished to the state in accordance with Wisconsin’s Safe Haven laws. In that timespan, the year where the highest amount of infants were left to the state under the Safe Haven law was 2022 at 29 infants.
If a parent changes their mind, can they request custody of their child after relinquished them to the state?
If a parent changes their mind, they can contact the county human or social services department in the county where the baby was left under the Safe Haven Law.
Before officials return the baby, you must prove you’re the baby’s parent. A genetic test can prove you are the parent. Parents must also meet with a county social worker to ensure the child will be safe in their care.
Which states have baby boxes?
States with Safe Haven Baby Boxes include: Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, Iowa, Missouri and West Virginia.
JS reporter Jessie Opoien contributed to this report.
Laurel Burleson, a Dane County chef, thinks ugly apples make the best dishes.
One of her goals as a chef and restaurant owner is to save usable produce from the waste bin.
“I know how hard (Wisconsin farmers) work every day, making these products that are delicious and nutritious and for anything to get thrown away just because it’s not aesthetically perfect is just outrageous,” said Burleson, owner of Ugly Apple Cafe.
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The latest fruit monitoring report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows many parts of the state having great harvests, although northeastern Wisconsin orchards suffered from a cool spring. But most apple orchards are busy with the fall harvest. So what do you do with that abundance of apples?
Burleson shared some recipes and her philosophy on cooking with WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”
This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Rob Ferrett: What do you like to do with apples apart from just eating them?
Laurel Burleson: One that I really like to do is making apple marmalade. That is shredding apples and preserving them in sugar so that they keep their structure. It’s kind of the opposite of making applesauce.
But we also make a lot of apple sauce and apple butter. That’s a good way to use a lot of apples all at once.
RF: What goes into making apple butter?
LB: Very basically you make applesauce, so just cook down your apples and blend them up. Then you take that applesauce and cook it extremely slowly, either in a slow cooker or in the oven. Cook it down until it’s dark and rich and more closely resembling a peanut butter than applesauce.
From there, you can put in whatever spices you want: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, bay leaf. You just have to be careful because whatever you start with in the big batch will get super concentrated and reduced in your end product.
RF: With applesauce or apple butter, do we have to be fussy about the type of apples? Or can we mix and match?
LB: I like to mix and match, especially because the apple season starts really early. Some years you can get the first season apples in July.
They don’t hold very long and they’re very juicy, so they break down really easily, but they are very tart. I like to get some of those early season apples and make them into applesauce and freeze them and then when I have other sweeter varieties later I mix them and then reduce that all down into butter.
RF: You shared a savory recipe with us for pork chops with apple bacon cabbage. Tell us a little bit about this recipe.
LB: It’s really fun for the fall and even into the winter. You can kind of use any kind of variety of apple that’s a little bit tart and it’s OK if it breaks down and blends in because the cabbage is going to maintain its structure.
If the onions and apples melt away into a delicious sauce it’s just fine. But also, if you end up with some apple pieces, then it’s a nice little surprise like a little sweetness.
The Ugly Apple Cafe operates cafes inside the Dane County Courthouse and the City County Building in Madison and sells its products at the Monona Farmers Market.
While the Wisconsin Badgers struggle on the football field, sitting at a disappointing 2-2 through four weeks, some of the program’s former transfers continue to find success.
One of those players is tight end Riley Nowakowski, who transferred to Indiana this offseason after five years with the Badgers. The Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native originally walked on to the program as an unranked outside linebacker. After playing sparingly during his first few seasons with the Badgers, he flipped over to fullback in 2022, then out to tight end after Phil Longo arrived in 2023. Nowakowski totaled 18 receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown from 2023-24; his two years as a primary offensive contributor.
The former Badger is already making significant progress toward those totals, now just four games into his Indiana career. He has four catches for 72 yards and a touchdown, plus one carry for a one-yard score. The versatile fullback/tight end delivered the highlight play of his career during Indiana’s blowout win over Illinois on Saturday, taking a 1st-down screen pass 43 yards to the house.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, has received solid contributions from Montana State transfer tight end Lance Mason. The veteran has 14 catches for 177 yards and two touchdowns to date, leading the team in each of those respective categories.
While Mason has been one of the Badgers’ few bright spots through four weeks, it’s hard to ignore Nowakowski’s emergence as one of Indiana’s dependable offensive playmakers.
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Get ready for an overall warmer stretch of weather as we head into this upcoming workweek. After some fog lifts this morning, we’ll have plenty of sunshine today with highs in the mid to upper 70s along the lake and low 80s inland.
Tonight will be dry with lows in the low 60s lakeside and upper 50s inland.
Monday through Wednesday should be very similar, with upper 70s to near 80 near the lake and low to mid 80s inland with plenty of sun.
We’ll start to bring in chances of showers or a T’storm starting Thursday right on into the weekend.
WATCH: Southeast Wisconsin weather: Dry Today, Warm Workweek Ahead
Southeast Wisconsin weather: Dry Today, Warm Workweek Ahead
TODAY: Any fog lifting through the morning, then becoming mostly sunny.
High: 77 lakefront… 83 inland.
Wind: E 5-10 MPH.
TONIGHT: Mostly clear.
Low: 62.
Wind: ESE 3-8 MPH.
MONDAY: Mostly sunny.
Highs: 78 lakefront… 83 inland.
Wind: ESE 5-10 MPH.
TUES: Mostly sunny and warm.
High: 80 lakefront… 84 inland.
WEDS: Mostly sunny and warm.
High: 81 lakefront… 85 inland.
THUR: Partly cloudy with a chance of a shower
or T’storm.
High: 80.
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