§ 5-706. Local child fatality review teams -- Purpose; duties

   (a) Local teams. -- The purpose of the local team is to prevent child deaths by:

   (1) Promoting cooperation and coordination among agencies involved in investigations of child deaths or in providing services to surviving family members;

   (2) Developing an understanding of the causes and incidence of child deaths in the county;

   (3) Developing plans for and recommending changes within the agencies the members represent to prevent child deaths; and

   (4) Advising the State Team on changes to law, policy, or practice to prevent child deaths.

(b) Duties. -- To achieve its purpose, the local team shall:

   (1) In consultation with the State Team, establish and implement a protocol for the local team;

   (2) Set as its goal the investigation of child deaths in accordance with national standards;

   (3) Meet at least quarterly to review the status of child fatality cases, recommend actions to improve coordination of services and investigations among member agencies, and recommend actions within the member agencies to prevent child deaths;

   (4) Collect and maintain data as required by the State Team;

   (5) Provide requested reports to the State Team, including discussion of individual cases, steps taken to improve coordination of services and investigations, steps taken to implement changes recommended by the local team within member agencies, and recommendations on needed changes to State and local law, policy, and practice to prevent child deaths; and

   (6) In consultation with the State Team:

      (i) Define "near fatality"; and

      (ii) Develop procedures and protocols that local teams and the State Team may use to review cases of near fatality.

(c) Duty to investigate acts by child causing death or near fatality. -- In addition to the duties specified in subsection (b) of this section, a local team may investigate the information and records of a child convicted of a crime or adjudicated as having committed a delinquent act that caused a death or near fatality described in § 5-707 of this subtitle.

HISTORY: 1999, chs. 355, 356; 2007, ch. 264.