Infant Safely Surrendered in Dorchester County Under Safe Haven Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: DSS Office of Communications and External Affairs
803-898-7602
publicinfo@dss.sc.gov

Infant Safely Surrendered in Dorchester County Under Safe Haven Act

June 11, 2025- Officials with Summerville Medical Center in Dorchester County recently accepted an infant safely surrendered under Daniel’s Law, the state’s Safe Haven for Abandoned Babies Act, on June 7, 2025.

The African American baby girl was born on June 5, 2025, and weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces and was 19.5 inches long at the time of surrender.

The infant was safely surrendered at Summerville Medical Center in Dorchester County after birth. Under the Safe Haven for Abandoned Babies Act, Dorchester County DSS took custody of the child, and the infant has been placed in a licensed foster home.

A Permanency Planning Hearing and Termination of Parental Rights Hearing will be held on September 25, 2025 at 2:00 pm in the Dorchester County Family Court, located at 212 Deming Way, Summerville, S.C.  Persons who believe they have parental rights to this child are required to attend the hearing to assert those rights.

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Editor’s note: The Department of Social Services has made a dedicated page on the agency’s website regarding Daniel’s Law in South Carolina with current data. This is the third Daniel’s Law baby surrendered in South Carolina during the 2025 calendar year.

A safe abandonment such as this is a perfect time to remind the public that the SC Safe Haven for Abandoned Babies Act provides a safe, legal option to surrender an infant up to 60 days old. For more information about the Safe Haven Act, known as Daniel’s Law in South Carolina, please click here. For a listing of crisis pregnancy organizations, please see this brochure.