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2025 Annual Report for Local Child Fatality Team
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INFORMATION CONTACT:
Traci Colley, Human Services Agency - Public Health Department, Director, 704-296-4801; Ashley Lantz, Human Services Agency - Department of Social Services, Director, 704-296-4380
ACTION REQUESTED:
Receive as information the Union County Local Child Fatality Team 2025 Annual Report.
PRIOR BOARD ACTIONS:
None.
BACKGROUND:
The NC Child Fatality Prevention System is a statewide multi-disciplinary, multiagency system that was developed in the 1990’s consisting of the North Carolina Child Fatality Prevention Team, North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force, and the Local Child Fatality Prevention Team (CFPT) and Community Child Protection Team (CCPT). N.C. G.S. 7B Article 14 defines the duties and membership composition of CCPTs and CFPTs which are statutorily required to represent various human services and public service disciplines in the community such as law enforcement, mental health, school system, health care, etc.
North Carolina Session Law (NCSL) 2023-134 enacted changes to strengthen the state’s child fatality prevention system which included the establishment of a State Office of Child Fatality Prevention (CFP State Office) within the Division of Public Health (DPH), Department of Health and Human Services (the Department), made changes to the Child Fatality Prevention System, and made it mandatory to report child fatalities into the National Fatality Review Case Reporting System (NFRCRS).
The NFR-CRS is a web-based system hosted by the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention within the Center for National Prevention Initiatives of the Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI) and is used by many states to provide child death review teams with a data system for capturing, analyzing, and reporting of information shared at a child death or serious injury review. MPHI has a Cooperative Agreement with the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to manage the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention.
Per NCSL 2023-134, Local Teams are defined as a multidisciplinary child death review team that is either a single or multicounty team responsible for performing any type of child fatality review pursuant to Article 14 of Chapter 7B of the General Statutes.
In Union County, the local CFPT and the local CCPT are a combined team which meets quarterly and is co-chaired by the Social Services Director and Public Health Director.
This program receives an Agreement Addendum which provides funding for the Local Team to conduct child fatality reviews pursuant to Article 14 of Chapter 7B of the General Statutes as well as continue use of the NFR-CRS.
The Local Teams are expected to (1) conduct child fatality review pursuant to Article 14 of Chapter 7B of the General Statutes; (2) identify gaps or deficiencies that may exist in order to improve the delivery of services to children and families; (3) make recommendations for changes and carry out changes that could prevent future child fatalities; and (4) educate their communities on how to prevent children dying in their counties.
The CFPT/CCPT team submits reports annually to the State. These reports must also be reviewed by the Consolidated Human Services Agency Board and the Board of County Commissioners. The CHSB reviewed the report at its March 9, 2026 meeting.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
None.