The Review, Vol. 4, Issue 4 (Oct.-Dec. 2006)

October-December 2006 Quarterly Newsletter Volume 4, Issue 4

"The Review" Off ice of Child Fatality Review

Partners in Prevention: How Can We Work Together For SUCCESS?!

The mission of the Child Fatality Investigation Program is to promote and facilitate teamwork in the investigation

of suspicious child death. This multi-disciplinary approach generally involves local teams comprised of law

enforcement, children's services, medical examinerlcoroner and the district attorney. Jurisdictions using a team

approach find that there is less conflicting action on the part of agencies and much better information gathering. In

the next several issues of the newsletter, we'll be looking at the specific roles played by these various agencies in a

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team-based investigation. The Department of Family and Children's Services can play an invaluable role in the

investigation of child deaths. Unfortunately, DFCS is often excluded from the initial investigation. When

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contacted immediately, DFCS can provide a family history in many of these investigations. This history can be

utilized to establish suspects; locate and interview witnesses, such as collaterals and surviving siblings; and, to

recognize patterns of violence and secrecy in certain families. Practitioners involved in these investigations know

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that very often collaterals living outside the immediate area can provide great insight into family dynamics as well

as invaluable and admissible information about prior bad acts of the suspect that are similar in nature to the

pending case. Given that DFCS requires contact with such collaterals, other involved agencies should recognize

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the great benefit of including CPS in the initial investigation. In a typical child homicide, surviving children

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provide the most useful information in the case. These children are best interviewed on videotape by nonthreatening, well-trained professionals. Specialists with DFCS are well-equipped to perform these interviews that

are paramount to a proper investigation.

If your jurisdiction is interested in multi-disciplinary team-work on child death investigations, consider enrolling

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in the Child Fatality Investigation Program. Your membership in the program entitles the jurisdiction to fi-ee

training, support and advice. Contact Rachelle Carnesale, J.D., at racarnesale@,dhr.state.~a.us, or 770-490-2112.

Autumn Safety Tipsfor Parents, Caregivers and Communities!

October 2006:

Domestic ViolenceAwareness Month

Purple Ribbon Campaign-distribute purple ribbons to clergy, police officers, emer-

gency personnel and others in your community to raise awareness.

Children's Campaign-have children fi-omthe local shelter write "thank you" cards to be

distributed to police departments,judges, prosecutors and probation officers.

Teen Dating Violence Essay Contest-hold essay contests in area schools with an award

ceremony.

National Child Health Day (Oct. 2)

Held on the first Monday in October since 1928, it is intended to focus the attention of

I the nation on issues related to children's development and well-being. Choose any child Autumn Safety Tips
health issue that is important in your community and encourage schools to take an active

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role in educating parents

New 2006 CFR Form 2

National Fire Prevention Week (Oct. 8-14) The National Fire Protection Association now has FREE 30- and 60-second radio public New PH Programs 2

I service announcements available on their website, along with other materials to promote Panel Profile Page
FPW in your area. Visit www.nfpa.org for more information.

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December 2006:

Welcome CFR Staff 3

National Drunk and Drugged Driving (30) Prevention Month

Prevention Efforts 3

Your best defense against an impaired driver is to wear your safety belt and be sure that

children are properly secured in child safety seats. Support measures to strengthen drunk Upcoming Events 4

driving and victim rights laws by contacti

Tips and Helpful Hints for the NE W2006 CFR Reporting Form
In October 2006, the Office of Child Fatality Review will activate the newest version of the online fatality investigation report for CFR committees. This report has been tested and modified for months in order to create the most user-fi-iendly system ever used by CFR. Here you will find information on the updates and changes made to the form, as well as some helpful hints to complete the form and submit it to CFR for all 2006 and 2007 reviewable child deaths.
The first thing you might notice is the layout. The text and boxes are smaller in the new form; this helped us to reduce the number of overall pages and still add new questions. The identification and social information questions on the first page now ask for child's height and weight, any evidence of a disability or chronic illness, and the education level of the child's primary caretaker. Please also ensure that any domestic violence history in the family is documented; this includes official police records (example: 91 1 calls) and any family or neighbor awareness of violence in the home (example: forced social isolation).
The perpetrator information is very often a challenging point with committees. Children who commit suicide are technically perpetrators of injury toward themselves. Their actions did indeed contribute to their death, and those actions were self-directed. Teen drivers who crash due to driving recklessly or speeding are also contributing to their death, although indirectly. If your committee has any questions regarding this part of the form, please contact the Office for assistance.
When describing a SIDS cause of death, please note that much of the pre-natal medical and birth history can be gathered from the coroner form, which is available on the CFR website. Coroners are required to provide this information to the CFR committee chair within 7 days following a child death. Maternal medical history during childbirth can be helpful in determining SIDS and SUID also. SIDS and SUID are slightly different causes of death, with the primary difference being a presence of contributing factors in a SUID case. Such contributing factors include, but are not limited to, heavy bundling of the infant in blankets, a face-down sleep position, bed-sharing (infant and another person sleeping in the same bed), or overstuffed pillows in the sleep environment. For more complete information on SIDS and other infant sleep-related deaths, please visit htt~:/lwww.cdc.govlSIDS.
Another section that was modified in response to committee requests is the "asphyxia" section. Due to the increase in unintentional hanging deaths of children from "choking game" or autoerotic activity, the form now has space for this information to be reported. You will also find a section for miscellaneous causes of child death; those events that rarely occur, and thus are grouped together under "other circumstances". Those children who die while left in hot cars, abandoned, or have a medical condition, will be discussed in this section.
Finally, there is an improvement in the "diagnosis" of abuse and neglect. The committees often suspect abuse or neglect based on the circumstances surrounding the death, which is perfectly acceptable, but a conJirmation of child abuse or neglect must now come from a medical or legal source with evidence or history to support the confirmation. For example, although many committees feel that face-down infant sleeping and bed-sharing is neglectful due to the public awareness of the "Back to Sleep" education campaign, the CFR committee cannot report "confirmed" neglect without previous DFCS or medical history, or an autopsy reporting evidence of neglect.
Please call the Office if you have any questions, comments, or problems with this new 2006 form.
A New Program from Public Health
Beginning October 15, the Department of Human Resources1 Division of Public Health (DPH) is starting a crib matching program with the goal of reducing the incidence of SIDS, SUID, and other infant sleep-related deaths associated with bed-sharing. Community agencies interested in partnering with DPH will receive free training on SIDS and safe sleep awareness. In addition, DPH will donate two cribs for every five cribs purchased by partnering agencies for distribution to families. The cribs will cost $75 each, which includes the cost of shipping. There are some family eligibility restrictions; for more information, please contact Kim Washington, Child Health
Promotion Specialist, at 404-463-2117 or kiwashinaton@,dhr.state.ga.us.
'age 2

CFR Panel Profile Page

Dr. Stuart Brown, Director of the DHR Division of Public Health

Dr. Stuart Brown was appointed as Director on June 1,2005. Dr. Brown's career began in Bangkok with the United States Army and he has spent more than 3 1 years in Public Health. Dr. Brown served with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 19 years including assignments to the World Health Organization (WHO), Seattle-King County Health Department, the Fulton County Health Department and the Atlanta campus of the CDC. While at the CDC, one of his assignments was to lead the development of an Injury Control and Epidemiology unit which is now known as the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. After his work at CDC he then worked for the DeKalb County Board of Health as the Medical Director and became Acting Director of the Board of Health in 2004. He is very familiar with the child fatality review process, having served on the DeKalb County Child Fatality Review Panel for 4 years. Since assuming his duties as State Health Officer two years ago he has taken a comprehensive,multidisciplinary approach to the responsibilities of public health and the state CFR panel. The one thing he would like to communicate to the CFR committees is that the impact and importance of their work in prevention is critical to engaging their comrnu-
nities beyond the tragic deaths of children.
"Welcome" to our newest staff members!!

In July 2006, we welcomed our new Executive Assistant, Brenda Jones. Brenda received her B.A. from Spel-

man College, and worked for many years as a Project Manager for BellSouth. Her dedication to the Human Service

field led her to Rome Housing Authority as Director of Housing, where she helped many families purchase homes through the Family Self Sufficiency Program. She is excited to now be a part of the CFR team, and is looking forward to working with all CFR partners.
In August 2006, Loran Cook began her 12-month internship with the Office. Loran is a senior at Georgia State University studying Public Policy in local government. She enjoys reading, traveling and spending time with her family. She hopes to attend law school and become a local level judge. By interning with CFR, Loran hopes to gain perspective on how government agencies function on a daily

basis and learn the difference between textbook and real-world politics.

County Prevention Efforts in 2006

Lamar County

Fulton County

Started Child Safety Seat classes in March 2006, Merely going through the motions doesn't fit the

and have had 55 participants to date. Through

style of Fulton County's CFR Committee.

the collaboration of the Lamar County Health

When a 17-year-old died from injuries received

Department, Barnesville Police Department,

on a construction site, the CFR Committee took

Lamar Family Connections Collaborative,

the initiative to contact the Georgia Occupa-

Lamar County Family and Children's Services, tional Safety and Health Administration

and the Barnesville Housing Authority, they ob- (OSHA) Office to make sure that a report had

tained a mini-grant for the Child Occupant

been filed. They also followed up with the con-

Safety Program through the Injury Prevention

struction site's developer and original property

Section of the Division of Public Health. Ac-

owner to make sure that safety procedures were

cording to Sherry Farr: "We didn't anticipate

properly followed. Their efforts go beyond

such a fantastic reception of the program and are processing paperwork to maintain compliance. looking forward to the opportunities that the fu- This shows their true concern about the children

ture holds. We plan to kick off the PRIDE pro- in the county, and their dedication to the mission

gram in our community in October!"

of Child Fatality Review.

Do you want to let others know about your successful investigation or prevention efforts? Take the time to educate all of us and send a short story about activities, events and programs in your county. We want to recognize all of your hard work in
the next newsletter. We look forward to hearing from you!

Together Everyone Achieves More

Please submit your county's stories of success or other ideas by December 15,2006 to: The Office of Child Fatality Review 506 Roswell Street, Suite 230 Manetta, Georgia 30060
Phone: (770)528-3988 Fax: (770)528-3989

Upcoming Events

November 5-8,2006: Georgia Commission on Family Violence will host their Annual Conference in Savannah. Please call 404-657-3412 for more information. The Georgia Alliance for Drug Endangered Children will sponsor several trainings for anyone interested. Dates and locations vary (July-October, statewide); please visit www.qeorgiadec.or~for more information. This event is free.

Family Connection Partnership will sponsor the
2006 Georgia KIDS COUNT Tour; eight forums held in several counties across the state. Dates and locations vary (September 25-October 24; statewide). Please visit http://www.gafcp.orr2/ KCtour/index.htm for more information. This event is free.

CFR Deadlines and Timelines
All 2005 Child Fatality Review reports should be submitted to the Office at this time. If you have not submitted all reports for child deaths in your county, please contact the office at 770-528-3988. October 2006: The 2006 CFR report will be available on our website (www.~acfi-.dhr.qeorgia.~ovA). ll 2006 child deaths should be reported using this form. You must have Adobe Acrobat 7.0 installed on your computer to use this reporting form. Adobe can be downloaded free of charge by visiting www.adobe.com. January 2007: The CFR Annual Report will be mailed to all CFR committee members and chairpersons, and posted to the website. If you are interested in receiving a copy of this Annual Report, please contact the Office.
M**** If you would like to receive this newsletter in your email inbox, or if you would prefer to access the newsletter on our website, please contact the Office to remove yourself from the mailing listM***

sBrar~bingoutfor Prevenifon"
Office of Child Fatality Review 506 Roswell Street, Suite 230 Marietta Georgia, 30060 Phone: 770.528.3988Fax: 770.528.3989 Website: www.qacfr .dhr.qeorqio.gov

PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT#292 MARIETTA,GA

I n an effort tofacilitate information sharing, we have developed this newsletter to bring us closer. Knowing that our goal is the protection of children and the prevention of child deaths, w e want to include your experiences and ideas to improve the quality of services we provide. Please contact us with any suggestions on how to make the
Office of Child Fatality Review process helpful to you.
Go Team!