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Bill modernizes local child fatality reviews, expands scope to age 19 and revises data-access rules
Summary
House Bill 1459 would rename and expand child mortality reviews to child fatality reviews, extend the review age to 19, clarify permitted data access for reviews, and refine confidentiality and evidentiary rules so review materials remain confidential but may be used in criminal proceedings in certain ways; prosecutors and public health officials
House Bill 1459 would update Washington’s local child mortality review statutes by renaming the process “child fatality reviews,” expanding the review age to include deaths of individuals up to 19 years old, clarifying permitted data access for local health departments, and refining confidentiality and evidentiary rules for materials collected during reviews.
Committee counsel Luke Wickham told members that local child fatality review teams examine medical, social, environmental and administrative factors that contribute to nonnatural child deaths to identify opportunities for prevention. Under the bill,…
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