REGISTRY OF CHILDREN'S DEATHS S.B. 257:
COMMITTEE SUMMARY
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Senate Bill 257 (as introduced 2-18-09)
Sponsor: Senator Mark C. Jansen
Committee: Families and Human Services
Date Completed: 3-9-09
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Child Protection Law to require the child fatality review team advisory committee to establish and maintain a central registry of statistical information regarding children's deaths that was accessible to the public.
The registry could not disclose any identifying information regarding a child or adult involved in the investigation or incident and could only include statistical information covering all of the following:
-- The number of children who died while in foster care.
-- The number of children who died while under court jurisdiction for child abuse or neglect.
-- The number of children who died after having involvement with Child Protective Services (CPS).
-- The total number of children who died under the above conditions in the preceding year.
-- A narrative of the circumstances, manner, and cause of death.
-- The number and nature of child abuse or neglect referrals against parents before the child's death and the CPS category given to each investigation.
The narrative included in the registry could not disclose or include any confidential information.
MCL 722.627b
BACKGROUND
The Child Protection Law requires each county to have a standing child fatality review team, although two or more counties may appoint a single review team for those counties. The review team must review each child fatality occurring in the county or counties that established the team.
The child fatality review team advisory committee is a multi-agency, multidisciplinary advisory committee established by the Department of Human Services to identify and make recommendations on policy and statutory changes pertaining to child fatalities, and to guide statewide prevention, education, and training efforts.
Using an annual compilation of child fatalities reported by the State Registrar under the Public Health Code, and data received from the child fatality review teams, the advisory committee is required to publish an annual report that includes at least the following:
-- The total number of child fatalities and the type or cause of each.
-- The number of child fatalities that occurred while the child was in foster care.
-- The number of cases in which the child's death occurred within five years after family preservation or family reunification.
-- Trends in child fatalities.
The reported information must be broken down by county or groups of counties appointing a single child fatality review team. The advisory committee must transmit a copy of the report to the Governor and the legislative standing committees with jurisdiction over child protection matters.
Legislative Analyst: Curtis Walker
FISCAL IMPACT
The Department has noted that data that would be used in the central registry mandated by Senate Bill 257 are already collected by the child fatality review teams and made available to the Legislature. The bill would likely lead to a small, indeterminate increase in administrative cost to the Department of Human Services associated with modifying available information for use in a central registry and modifying the Department's internet home page to meet the requirements of the bill.
Fiscal Analyst: David Fosdick
Analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent. sb257/0910