Cast-Off Babies on the Rise in County

Evan was about 1 hour old when a jogger found him in a Granada Hills park. It was a dawn in March, and Evan’s little arm was sticking out of some bushes. Covered with dirt and ants, his body temperature was about 15 degrees below normal.

Nina DeCampos Gotsch, who weeks ago took over care of the infant, said she named the child Evan because she was told it means “the strong one.”

“It fits because he survived,” his foster mother said.

Evan’s moniker, though, has come easier than has the identity of his parents.

The infant was one of six babies brought to a news conference Friday by county social workers who asked the public for help in finding the missing parents.

The babies, whose ages when they were found ranged from minutes to 17 months, were reported abandoned since February, officials said.

This year, “there appears to be an increase in abandoned babies,” Ray La Motte, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Department of Children’s Services, said at the news conference in the county’s Child Abuse Hotline office.

In 1988 and 1989, an average of one abandoned baby per month had been reported, department officials said. This year, such reports have picked up dramatically--in March alone, four babies were reported abandoned.

La Motte said no one problem has led to the increase. Drug abuse, unemployment and lack of affordable child care each have played a part in the problem, she said.

“In most cases, we have no clues and no leads,” La Motte said of efforts to find the parents. “We just have the babies.”

As department officials made their request, foster parents and social workers stood in the background, cradling the six children--two of whom were identified by the department as Latino; two white; one of African descent and one of African-Latino descent.

If the parents do step forward, they will be counseled, La Motte said. Some will be reunited with their children and others, who social workers determine are unfit, will be urged to put their children up for adoption.

La Motte also said the department is looking for the parents to provide medical information, and family backgrounds, which the children may need in the future.

She said that parents who come forward or are identified face very little possibility that charges will be filed against them. Criminal charges are sought only if a child has been abused or if the child suffers injury because of the abandonment, she said, adding that the six babies at the news conference showed no significant sign of abuse or illness.

“For the child’s safety and for the parents not to be liable, the alternative to abandonment is calling an agency,” La Motte said. “There are places where parents who are no longer able to care for their children can go.”

The county 24-hour number for family counseling is (800) 540-4000 .