[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6558466,"mediaKeyId","3249731-e13593f10ed3c75ec1acaebf1886e374","parentId",3249731,"title","After infant’s death, Harrison County discussion turns to a proposed \"Baby DJ\" law to involve police when CPS cannot be reached","audioSeconds",1051,"startMs",6676000,"endMs",7727000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3249731-e13593f10ed3c75ec1acaebf1886e374&start=6676&end=7727","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3249731-e13593f10ed3c75ec1acaebf1886e374/thumbnail_6676000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6558466/Harrison-County/Mississippi/After-infants-death-Harrison-County-discussion-turns-to-a-proposed-Baby-DJ-law-to-involve-police-when-CPS-cannot-be-reached","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6558466-26c260c3b15652f3ec718cf4d5bee5f6/orig.mp4?Expires=1775700553&Signature=O7LQz-OALwIPvypSTtlVEvwyi3t~NEi7ht9HvoWilz63KURpO-zkhM3fEZ3vwLYc-VzWUrwfLEWdzJRH1G5laI9Qwg1AeBIGaDH0QN2v4d8lTljPaCZvKorxKAavGVyFO895PWLxptVvRZ7SnkTyhFU9WrWsSfa77YFP4hYJVxLjEXXGupoWJupPMHjRJiNg4oT0qQwE676QFvZfi-gxR8JSMZyw-vMIryxwMTk-Z~5t4h5GoA-UCbsOYUefy3rd7fHvfr0UUIydSCOni0kFSF-8jDSyZ1sAVd4YUHrSX-lpRVTkq0uSLsRYf6U4~MNk92-NgmngXdVlhG2vJuWzhw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Harrison County","date","2025-05-09T17:38:35Z","article","Community members and county officials used a Harrison County supervisors’ workshop to press for clearer local practice and a proposed state policy after an infant’s death that residents and the county’s Blue Ribbon Committee identified as a catalyst for action.

Rebecca Powers, a Blue Ribbon Committee participant who spoke at the workshop, described the case and urged a statutory change. Powers said the child known in public discussion as \"baby DJ\" was released from a hospital despite later test results indicating the infant had fentanyl exposure at birth, and that the child later died with multiple fractures. \"He went back home again to the meth addict and to the abuse,\" Powers said, summarizing the sequence that the committee reviewed.

Powers and others urged a legislative measure — referred to in the meeting as a local proposal, “Baby DJ’s Law” — that would require law-enforcement involvement or an alert (an APB-style search) when hospitals or providers cannot reach CPS and they believe a child is at immediate risk. Powers said the Blue Ribbon Committee has discussed such a law and that it would create a formal alternative route when CPS cannot be reached quickly.

Andrea Sanders, commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services, acknowledged the case and described operational changes made locally since the death: weekly staffing with NICU teams, steps to improve hospital-to-CPS contact and renewed collaboration with local law enforcement. Sanders said hospital staff now have a direct CPS contact for the coast and that her office is willing to “sit down at the table and review” legislative or practice proposals such as the Baby DJ law. \"It is the hardest part of the work that we do,\" Sanders said of responding to child fatalities.

County supervisors and law-enforcement leaders at the meeting emphasized that police want to be called in serious cases and that hospitals can and should call law enforcement in addition to or if they cannot reach CPS when they suspect criminal conduct or immediate danger. Panelists agreed that HIPAA does not prohibit notifying law enforcement about suspected child abuse; the transcript discussion emphasized operational uncertainty rather than a legal bar.

The Blue Ribbon Committee and county leaders said they will pursue clearer local operational rules and will discuss possible state-level legislation with the commissioner and legislators. No formal county policy or vote was taken at the workshop; the session was used to share information and to begin drafting collaborative responses.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","May 9th, 2025 - Harrison County Board of Supervisors Meeting","oneSentenceSummary","A recent infant fatality in Harrison County prompted community members and officials to press for clearer practice and a proposed law to require law enforcement notification or alerts when CPS cannot locate an at-risk child, and hospital–CPS communication improvements.","taxTitle","Harrison County, Mississippi","taxId",24960,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6558471,"Experts urge coordinated \"plans of safe care\" to reduce infant removals and improve outcomes in Harrison County",2873,1501000,4374000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3249731-e13593f10ed3c75ec1acaebf1886e374&start=1501&end=4374","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3249731-e13593f10ed3c75ec1acaebf1886e374/thumbnail_1501000.jpg","/articles/6558471/Harrison-County/Mississippi/Experts-urge-coordinated-plans-of-safe-care-to-reduce-infant-removals-and-improve-outcomes-in-Harrison-County","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6558471-28b2d2bcef76c32f7564cfe1ca910e84/orig.mp4?Expires=1775700553&Signature=SYV9g8Ik5sqSDXbH~QEVQjjvybuCnq931HPf5kOptAbQOwKv9GddysrIJ~6LZ5GDi01t8Lwg9gyfv96RFMAeKh2zJefRw907XY~C4ZJXXtvzOc538IJelqxGakvYpIrWLHf9vC8ptmzY3X1QevCWm2UhLS4m~c~TO6jcLYMFbxkOEtboZk2FP7g3wGfF3mngBe1saGcmO4tzb0tYfRiW3lvfREB~HrHKAftWRRAFJtLN7J3P0MlGkpI5XChd--l3ffCeIHuiZv7W~RM2g5mz-iXrXsBY6lss~KsEnxh2Jl3P13~Ib~FS3caawwtonXhFkOmqC9j6G0YqTUeYw~n1ug__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","A panel of judges, child-welfare researchers and Mississippi child-protection officials told a Harrison County Board of Supervisors workshop that coordinated “plans of safe care” and upstream prenatal supports can reduce unnecessary removals of infants and improve long-term outcomes for children.

Mike Dickinson, Harrison County youth court judge, opened the workshop and introduced speakers including retired youth court judge John Hudson; Sean Couch of the National Center on Substance Use and Child Welfare; Christopher Church of Casey Family Programs; and Andrea Sanders, commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services (MDCPS). The presenters described legal rules that constrain removal, federal funding requirements and models that other states use to coordinate medical, substance-use and social supports for pregnant people and newborns.

Why it matters: Speakers said removal from a home is legally and practically significant—federal rules require courts and agencies to show “reasonable efforts” to prevent removal and to move children to permanency quickly if reunification fails. Presenters argued that plans of safe care — multi-agency, family-centered care plans required under the federal Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) — can reduce crisis-driven removals by connecting pregnant people and new parents to treatment, housing and other supports before or at the birth event.

John Hudson, a longtime former youth court judge who spoke about Mississippi law, summarized the legal baseline: parents have a presumption to parent and removal requires a court finding of a significant or imminent risk of harm and, where applicable, a showing that no reasonable alternative exists. He noted legislative changes that limit removal for some test results: “The legislature included this language in the youth court law... removal cannot be based solely upon a positive drug test of the parent or of the newborn child for marijuana,” and that removal for other controlled substances requires a nexus between the drug use and the parent’s inability to provide proper care.

Sean Couch, who leads practice work on prenatal exposure at the National Center on Substance Use and Child Welfare, described CARA and how states implement “plans of safe care.” Couch said the plan should address both the infant’s needs and the family’s needs, and be used as a coordination tool that moves upstream — for example, with prenatal screening in OBGYN clinics and hospital newborn-risk assessment tools that feed into a plan before discharge. “No single agency can do it alone,” Couch said, urging county-level collaboratives that allow hospitals, treatment providers, home visiting and courts to share a common pathway.

Christopher Church of Casey Family Programs presented federal and regional data and local comparisons. Church said Harrison County’s most recent 12-month removal count (federal fiscal 2024) was 31 children, about 2.2 removals per 10,000 children, which he noted is below the statewide rate he cited (about 3.2 per 10,000). He described placement and permanency trends that jurisdictions monitor — for example, the value of placing children with relatives when possible and the federal emphasis on avoiding long stays in congregate care. Church said Harrison County showed strengths in high rates of exits to legal permanency and relatively low reentry.

Andrea Sanders, commissioner of MDCPS, described the agency’s constraints and local supports. She said the state’s foster-care population and child-welfare caseloads are serious, and noted broader public-health context: Mississippi’s infant mortality rate is well above the national average. Sanders described current local practices the department has implemented on the coast, including weekly staffing with neonatal intensive-care-unit (NICU) staff in hospitals and renewed relationships with law enforcement and hospital teams to improve rapid response and information sharing.

Panelists and county officials discussed specific program strategies states have used to make plans of safe care meaningful rather than a paperwork exercise: prenatal initiation of plans, newborn risk assessment tools in hospitals, care coordinators who meet families at birth, co-located prenatal and treatment services, and peer-recovery support. Church highlighted data uses: tracking removals, discharges, placement types and reentry to align practice with goals.

The workshop concluded with an emphasis from presenters and the commissioner on building a Harrison County collaborative that leverages the family intervention court, Memorial Hospital at Gulfport and local community and faith-based services to implement upstream plans of safe care and reduce crisis-driven removals.

Sources: Presentations and exchanges at the Harrison County supervisors’ workshop with John Hudson (retired youth court judge), Sean Couch (National Center on Substance Use and Child Welfare), Christopher Church (Casey Family Programs) and Andrea Sanders (MDCPS).","At a Harrison County workshop, judges, child welfare experts and the state commissioner outlined legal limits on removals and promoted upstream prenatal supports and coordinated \"plans of safe care\" to reduce unnecessary foster placements and improve infant outcomes.","actionData","errors"]

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After infant’s death, Harrison County discussion turns to a proposed "Baby DJ" law to involve police when CPS cannot be reached

Experts urge coordinated "plans of safe care" to reduce infant removals and improve outcomes in Harrison County