NCJ Number
146482
Date Published
1993
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This booklet provides guidance for the development and implementation of child fatality review systems at the local, State, and national level.
Abstract
The recommendations are designed to stimulate and coordinate action among those organizations and individuals concerned with child abuse and neglect. They encourage a collaborative approach to systems development and program implementation. The recommendations are the result of two meetings of an ad hoc Child Fatality Advisory Workshop convened by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau. The workgroup consisted of representatives from several Federal agencies, advocacy groups, and State maternal and child health programs. The final set of recommendations was reviewed by the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect and the Inter-Agency Task Force. In response to the high number of children who die in the United States each year as the result of child abuse, many counties and States have adopted strategies for reviewing and managing cases of child fatality. The recommendations presented in this booklet pertain the following issues: a national child fatality review team; the development of professional fatality review systems at the State and local levels; essential elements of State and local systems; communications between Federal, State, and local systems; training and education; confidentiality; evaluation, data collection, and reporting; protocols for child fatality review; cultural sensitivity considerations; and the financing of child fatality review systems.