Prevent Child Abuse New York urged amending the Child Fatality Review Team (CFRT) legislation, because existing legislation had been interpreted to limit CFRT’s purview to investigating the death of a child who was the subject of a report of child abuse or whose care has been transferred to an authorized agency. We are pleased that S6703B/A10023B, sponsored by Senator Nicholas Spano and Assemblywoman Amy Pauline was passed. This law strengthens the effectiveness of child fatality review teams, by clarifying that they may investigate any unexplained or unexpected death of a child. Signed into law on August 16, effective in 120 days.

Child Fatality Review Teams, representing the several disciplines that respond to child deaths, were created to better understand how and why children die. Through combined efforts, team members work to achieve two purposes: to facilitate the investigation of criminal cases and to aid in the prevention of child deaths in the future.

Formerly, New York State law did not allow Child Fatality Review Teams to function to their greatest potential. Reviewing only fatalities of children who were involved in child protective reports severely constrained Teams’ ability develop a better understanding of how and why all children die in order to prevent future child deaths.

Child Fatality Review Teams are multi-disciplinary. When professionals and agencies are connected in a collaborative way, they can build a more open system of multi-agency cooperation and can form alliances that address possible fatal and severe child abuse/neglect. Each case requires the collaboration of many agencies; no single agency does all the work. For this reason, teams should review the work of all agencies involved in the investigation and intervention of child death cases, not only the work of the local child protective services agency.

For example, one child fatality review team was able to determine that many infant deaths thought to be due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) were actually layover deaths due to the children sleeping in bed with adults (co-sleeping). In response to this startling trend, the team developed a brochure titled “Put Your Baby Safe To Sleep” that explains the dangers of co-sleeping, as well as helpful information about safe sleep habits for babies. These brochures are being used by all local hospitals and are displayed in many doctor’s offices.

By clarifying their role, the new law will allow Child Fatality Review Teams to function to their greatest potential, by providing a safe environment for team agencies to share case information to understand why children are dying and how to prevent it.

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