Child Fatality Review Boards

By Gerald Kelley

In 1987, the death of a 7-year-old boy at the hand of his mother’s live-in boyfriend raised many questions about the procedures and practices used by the area’s agencies that protected and served children. Newspaper articles brought into question the roles and responsibilities of the various organizations that had dealt with the family prior to the youngster’s death and why a closer working relationship did not exist among them. These questions were directed at the local children’s social service, the schools, and the police because all had contact with the family. But, the information that each possessed was either not available or only so in small amounts to the other agencies involved. What could the community do to ensure better coordination among these entities? To illustrate an effective solution, the author presents an overview of the child fatality review process by using an example from his local community of Summit County, Ohio.

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ttp://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/2010/march2010/child_feature.htm