Child fatality team cites suicide and unsafe-sleep trends; seeks increased prevention funding and local partnerships

Laura Johnson, chair of Ardo County’s Child Fatality Prevention Team, presented the team’s annual report and recommended the county continue to designate the community child protection team as a single‑county team. Commissioners approved the single-county designation by consent at the pre‑agenda meeting.

Johnson said the team’s 2024 reviews covered deaths that occurred primarily in 2023—23 cases—and included one 2021 case that remained under investigation and therefore was reviewed later. The team identified suicide and unsafe‑sleep practices as the two causes of death that occur more frequently in Ardo County than in other counties the team compared.

Johnson described current prevention and response efforts in local schools and the community: school-based mental-health therapists supported by a grant, an anonymous reporting hotline, internet‑filtering alerts for concerning student behavior, teen mental‑health first‑aid courses, partnerships for school‑based therapy and threat assessment processes, and a recent teen mental‑health summit. She emphasized efforts to reach non‑English speaking families and to tailor outreach to populations at higher risk.

On unsafe‑sleep prevention, Johnson described a local initiative that provides safe‑start kits (including a pack‑and‑play and educational materials) to pregnant students who maintain contact with school counselors through their third trimester; the team reported a memorandum of understanding with the county partnership for young children to formalize referrals and kit distribution.

Johnson said the team’s annual operating funds historically have been about $1,500 and that the anticipated allocation is now $2,500, which the team hopes to use to expand prevention education and outreach.

The board approved the single‑county designation and received the report; no additional county funding was approved during the pre‑agenda session.