PRINTER'S NO. 732
No. 684 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY BAKER, BROWNE, COSTA, FERLO, GREENLEAF, KITCHEN, ORIE, O'PAKE, RAFFERTY, RHOADES, WAUGH AND WONDERLING, MARCH 23, 2007
REFERRED TO AGING AND YOUTH, MARCH 23, 2007
AN ACT 1 Providing for child death review. 2 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 3 hereby enacts as follows: 4 Section 1. Short title. 5 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Child Death 6 Review Act. 7 Section 2. Definitions. 8 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall 9 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the 10 context clearly indicates otherwise: 11 "Child." An individual under 20 years of age. 12 "Child death review data collection system." A data 13 collection system approved by the National MCH Center for Child 14 Death Review or a similar national organization. 15 "Department." The Department of Health of the Commonwealth. 16 "Local child death review team." A county or regional team 17 comprised of professionals from organizations and local agencies
1 who review cases of child deaths in accordance with protocols 2 established by the State child death review team. 3 "State child death review team." A State team comprised of 4 multidisciplinary professionals and representatives of State 5 agencies who review data submitted by local child death review 6 teams to develop protocols for child death reviews and child 7 death prevention strategies. 8 Section 3. Child Death Review Program. 9 (a) Establishment.--The department shall establish the Child 10 Death Review Program which shall develop State and local 11 multiagency, multidisciplinary teams to examine the 12 circumstances surrounding deaths in this Commonwealth for the 13 purpose of promoting safety and reducing child fatalities. 14 (b) State child death review team.--The program shall be 15 administered by a State child death review team comprised of the 16 following: 17 (1) The Secretary of Health or a designee, who shall 18 serve as chairman. 19 (2) The Director of the Office of Children, Youth and 20 Families within the Department of Public Welfare. 21 (3) The Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police or 22 a designee. 23 (4) A physician who specializes in pediatric medicine 24 appointed by the Governor. 25 (5) A physician who specializes in family medicine 26 appointed by the Governor. 27 (6) A representative of local law enforcement appointed 28 by the Attorney General. 29 (7) A representative of emergency medical services 30 appointed by the Governor. 20070S0684B0732 - 2 -
1 (8) A member of the Attorney General's Medical/Legal 2 Advisory Board on Child Abuse appointed by the Attorney 3 General. 4 (9) The State Fire Commissioner or a designee. 5 (10) A coroner appointed by the Pennsylvania State 6 Coroners Association. 7 (11) A district attorney appointed by the Pennsylvania 8 District Attorneys Association. 9 (12) Any other member deemed appropriate by a majority 10 vote of the State child death review team. 11 (c) Powers and duties.--The State child death review team 12 shall have the following powers and duties: 13 (1) Assist in the establishment and coordination of 14 local child death review teams. 15 (2) Coordinate the collection of child death data 16 including the development and distribution of a form to be 17 used by local child death review teams to report information 18 and procedures for sharing the data with State and local 19 agencies as appropriate. 20 (3) Develop protocols to be used in the review of child 21 deaths. 22 (4) Provide training and technical assistance to local 23 child death review teams, local agencies and individuals 24 relating to the child deaths. 25 (5) Review reports from local child death review teams. 26 (6) Identify best prevention strategies and activities, 27 including an assessment of the following: 28 (i) Effectiveness. 29 (ii) Ease of implementation. 30 (iii) Cost. 20070S0684B0732 - 3 -
1 (iv) Sustainability. 2 (v) Potential community support. 3 (vi) Unintended consequences. 4 (7) Adopt programs, policies, recommendations and 5 strategies based on collected data to prevent child deaths. 6 (8) Review statutes and regulations relating to 7 confidentiality and access to information relating to 8 children from agencies responsible for the health and safety 9 of children and propose recommended changes to appropriate 10 Commonwealth agencies and the General Assembly. 11 (9) Provide public information and education regarding 12 the incidence and causes of child injury and death and the 13 reduction of risks to children to agencies, health care 14 professionals, child care professionals and the public. 15 (10) Submit an annual report to the Governor and the 16 General Assembly by September of each year relating to the 17 activities of the State child death review team, a summary of 18 reports received from local child death review teams and 19 recommendations relating to the reduction of risk of child 20 injury or death. 21 (d) Quorum.--A majority of the members of the State child 22 death review team shall constitute a quorum. 23 (e) Staff.--Staffing for the State child death review team 24 shall be provided by the department. 25 (f) Initial meeting.--The initial meeting of the State child 26 death review team shall be held within 90 days of the effective 27 date of this section. 28 Section 4. Local child death review teams. 29 (a) Establishment.--Each county in this Commonwealth shall 30 establish a local child death review team. A local child death 20070S0684B0732 - 4 -
1 review team shall be comprised of the following: 2 (1) A representative appointed by the county child 3 protective services agency. 4 (2) A representative appointed by the district attorney. 5 (3) A representative of local law enforcement appointed 6 by the county commissioners. 7 (4) A representative of the court of common pleas 8 appointed by the president judge. 9 (5) A physician who specializes in pediatric or family 10 medicine appointed by the county commissioners from a list of 11 three physicians provided by the Pennsylvania Chapter of the 12 American Academy of Pediatrics. 13 (6) The county coroner or medical examiner. 14 (7) A representative from emergency medical services 15 selected by all emergency medical organizations in the 16 county. If the emergency medical services organizations fail 17 to appoint a representative, the representative shall be 18 appointed by the county commissioners. 19 (8) Any other person deemed appropriate by the local 20 child death review team. 21 (b) Chairman.--The members of the local child death review 22 team shall annually elect a chairman. 23 (c) Regional teams.--Counties may cooperate to establish a 24 regional child death review team that may include a 25 representative from each county for each category of 26 representative identified in subsection (a). 27 Section 5. Powers and duties of local child death review teams. 28 (a) Review.--A local child death review team shall review 29 all deaths of children and may review the following information: 30 (1) Coroner's reports or postmortem examination records. 20070S0684B0732 - 5 -
1 (2) Death certificates and birth certificates. 2 (3) Law enforcement records and interviews with law 3 enforcement officials. 4 (4) Medical records from hospitals and other health care 5 providers. 6 (5) Information and reports made available by the county 7 child protection services agency. 8 (6) Information made available by firefighters or 9 emergency services personnel. 10 (7) Reports and records made available by the court. 11 (8) Reports to animal control. 12 (9) EMS records. 13 (10) Traffic fatality reports. 14 (11) Any other records necessary to conduct the review. 15 (b) Data collection.--The local child death review team 16 shall utilize the child death review data collection system to 17 report its findings in accordance with protocols established by 18 the State child death review team. 19 (c) Reports.--A local child death review team shall submit 20 biennial reports on deaths reviewed to the State child death 21 review team which shall include all of the following: 22 (1) Identification of factors which cause a risk for 23 injury and death, including modifiable risk factors. 24 (2) Recommendations regarding the following: 25 (i) The improvement of health and safety policies in 26 this Commonwealth. 27 (ii) The coordination of services and investigations 28 by child welfare agencies, medical officials, law 29 enforcement and other agencies. 30 (3) Any other information required by the department. 20070S0684B0732 - 6 -
1 (d) Recommendations.--A local child death review team shall 2 make recommendations to local agencies relating to the 3 procedures and other actions to reduce injury and death of 4 children. 5 Section 6. Access to records. 6 (a) Juvenile records.--Notwithstanding any other provision 7 of law, all files and records of the court in a proceeding under 8 42 Pa.C.S. Ch. 63 (relating to juvenile matters) shall be open 9 to inspection by a State or local child death review team under 10 42 Pa.C.S. § 6307 (relating to inspection of court files and 11 records). 12 (b) Medical records.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 13 law, health care facilities and health care providers shall 14 provide medical records without the authorization of a person in 15 interest to the State child death review team and to a local 16 child death review team for purposes of review under this act. 17 (c) Other records.--Other records pertaining to the child 18 under review for the purposes of this act shall be open to 19 inspection as permitted by law. 20 Section 7. Confidentiality. 21 (a) Maintenance.--State and local child death review teams 22 shall maintain the confidentiality of any information obtained 23 relating to the death of a child, including the name of the 24 child, in accordance with law and the requirements of the 25 department. 26 (b) Agreement.--Each member of a local child death review 27 team and any person appearing before the team shall sign a 28 confidentiality agreement applicable to all proceedings and 29 reviews conducted by the local child death review team. 30 (c) Liability.--An individual or agency that in good faith 20070S0684B0732 - 7 -
1 provides information or records to a State or local child death 2 review team shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability 3 as a result of providing the information or record. 4 (d) Discovery.--The proceedings, deliberations and records 5 of a State or local child death review team are privileged and 6 confidential and shall not be subject to discovery, subpoena or 7 introduction into evidence in any civil or criminal action. 8 (e) Meetings.--Meetings of the State or local child death 9 review team at which a specific child death is discussed shall 10 be closed to the public and shall not be subject to the 11 provisions of 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 7 (relating to open meetings). 12 (f) Identifying information.--Information identifying a 13 deceased child, a family member, guardian or caretaker of a 14 deceased child or an alleged or suspected perpetrator of abuse, 15 neglect or a criminal act shall not be disclosed to the public. 16 (g) Attendance.--Nothing in this act shall prevent a State 17 or local child death review team from allowing the attendance of 18 a person, including a parent, with information relevant to a 19 review, at a child death review meeting. 20 (h) Penalty.--A person who violates the provisions of this 21 section commits a misdemeanor. 22 Section 20. Regulations. 23 The Department of Health and the Department of Public Welfare 24 shall promulgate regulations to carry out the purposes of this 25 act. 26 Section 21. Effective date. 27 This act shall take effect in 90 days. C20L35MSP/20070S0684B0732 - 8 -