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County child-fatality team reports 18 deaths reviewed amid continued focus on substance abuse and safe-sleep prevention
Summary
County health and child-protection staff told commissioners they reviewed 13 of 18 child deaths reported for 2023 (five pending with the state medical examiner) and emphasized substance abuse, supervision and safe-sleep education as recurring concerns.
Randolph County health department staff and members of the county's child-protection/child-fatality teams presented annual findings at the Feb. 3 Board of Commissioners meeting, reporting systemic concerns and education efforts and asking the board to confirm local governance under new state rules.
Tracy Murphy, representing the community child protection team, said the county reviewed 10 child-welfare cases during the year and that substance abuse, improper supervision and inadequate care continued to be the top recurring concerns in cases referred to the department of social services. Murphy said substance abuse commonly contributes to neglect, unsafe environments and unstable caregiving.
Tara (child fatality team) presented the statutory child-fatality review report for calendar year 2023 as required under N.C. Gen. Stat. §7B-1407. The team received 18 deaths for review; as of the Feb. 3 meeting 13 of those had been reviewed by the local team and five cases remained pending because the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had not yet completed its reports. Provisional causes of death for the pending cases were available, the presenter said. Causes among reviewed cases included accidents (2), illness (6), perinatal conditions (5), other/ill-defined (4) and one SIDS case; there were no homicides or suicides reported for the reviewed period. The presenters said the county identified no systemic gaps that merited mandatory corrective action within the review period.
The presenters described active prevention work: safe-sleep education and distribution of portable cribs and safe-sleep kits, a small public-awareness billboard campaign (Safe Sleep ABCs) during SIDS awareness month and training for team members including QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) suicide-prevention training. The report said the county provided 300 (225 English/75 Spanish) safe-sleep kits to pediatrician offices and distributed educational materials through partner organizations.
Staff briefed the board on upcoming state changes to the child-fatality prevention system included in the 2023 Appropriations Act: the creation of a state Office of Child Fatality Prevention, consolidation of the two local teams into a single local team, selective review categories with optional review of all deaths, and phased adoption of a national data system (implementation set to begin Jan. 1, 2026). Health and social-services staff recommended Randolph County continue as a single-county local team based on local capacity and stakeholder engagement. The board voted to approve the single-county option.
Ending
Commissioners praised prevention work and requested continued emphasis on safe-sleep outreach, noting the overlap between substance-use disorders and unsafe sleeping arrangements. Health staff said additional state funding for local teams will help with training, data system adoption and prevention materials.
