Program Contact

Chelsea Smith
Systems Transformation Manager
Systems Transformation Unit
South Carolina Department of Social Services
1628 Browning Road
Columbia, South Carolina 29210
Phone: 803-977-4023
E-mail: Chelsea.Smith@dss.sc.gov

Program Description

Administration
The State Child Fatality Advisory Committee (SCFAC) was enacted in 1993 and is mandated by S.C. Code 63-11-1950 to identify patterns in child fatalities that will guide efforts by agencies, communities and individuals to decrease the number of preventable child deaths.

As defined by S.C. Code 63-11-1910 and S.C. Code 17-5-540 a “child” means a person less than eighteen years of age. Any child death under the age of 18 is investigated when the death is unexpected and unexplained including, but not limited to, possible sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), as a result of violence, when unattended by a physician or when occurring in any unusual or suspicious manner.

The intent of the child fatality review process is to decrease the incidence of preventable child deaths and make the public more aware of intentional and unintentional child deaths.

Teams
State Team:

Amanda Whittle, J.D., Chair-person
State Child Fatality Advisory Committee
Email: Amanda.Whittle@childadvocate.sc.gov

Mary-Fran Crosswell, M.D., Co-Chair person
State Child Fatality Advisory Committee
Email: Mary-Fran.Crosswell@prismahealth.org

The State Child Fatality Advisory Committee (SCFAC) is staffed by the State Law Enforcement Division’s (SLED’s), Special Victim’s Unit – Investigative Program. The SCFAC membership follows child fatality review (CFR) meeting, confidentiality and child/infant death investigation protocols, with standardized data reporting forms completed for all reviews. The SCFAC holds regular meetings during the months of February, April, June, August, October and December.

The SCFAC current membership consists of representatives from:

  • Department of Social Services
  • Department of Health and Environmental Control
  • Department of Education
  • SC Criminal Justice Academy
  • Department of Mental Health
  • Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services
  • Department of Juvenile Justice
  • Department of Disabilities and Special Needs
  • SC Attorney General Office
  • SC Chapter of the Academy of Pediatrics
  • SC Children’s Trust Fund
  • Ninth Circuit Solicitor
  • County Coroner or Medical Examiner
  • Forensic Pathologist
  • State Law Enforcement Division
  • SC Senate
  • SC House of Representatives
  • SC Network of Children’s Advocacy Centers (Public)
  • SC Crime Victims’ Council (Public)

Efforts by the SCFAC to obtain a better understanding of the causes of child death through a review of preventable child deaths help implement changes within the agencies represented, and provide recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly on statutory, policy and practice changes, which will prevent future child deaths.

Local Teams
South Carolina consists of 46-county areas with each having an elected Coroner. Each Coroner Office independently reviews each child fatality in coordination with local law enforcement partner organizations, with many engaging voluntary Children’s Health and Safety or Child Death Review Teams.

The SCFAC’s goal is to have a standing Child Fatality Team (at a minimum) functioning in each of the state’s forty six (46) county areas, with each local team composed of a standard group of members and using a standardized child fatality review tool; the National Center’s Case Reporting System. The gold standard would be for each county child fatality team to be comprised of a representative from the following: Coroner’s Office, Local Law Enforcement, SLED SVU Agent, Solicitor’s Office, Social Services, and Medical (child abuse pediatrician)

Reviews

The South Carolina SCFAC (state CDR Team) reviews preventable deaths of children under the age of 18 years old. The goal of the SCFAC is to review 252 child death cases annually, with 42 case reviews conducted at each bi-monthly meeting. Investigative reports, including autopsies, death certificates, law enforcement investigation reports, child welfare involvement, coroner reports, and other pertinent case information from state agencies (see listed SCFAC current membership representatives in Teams section above) are reviewed for each selected child death case during the review meeting.

Purpose

The purpose of the SCFAC (state CDR team) is to decrease the incidences of preventable child deaths by:
(1) developing an understanding of the causes and incidences of child deaths;
(2) developing plans for and implementing changes within the agencies represented on the committee which will prevent child deaths; and
(3) advising the Governor and the General Assembly on statutory, policy, and practice changes which will prevent child deaths.

Data

To achieve its purpose, the SCFAC shall undertake annual statistical studies of the incidences and causes of child fatalities in this State. The studies shall include an analysis of community and public and private agency involvement with the decedents and their families before and subsequent to the deaths.

The SCFAC (state CDR team) utilizes the National Center’s Case Reporting System for data collection. It is the goal of SCFAC that each of the 46 county CDR teams will utilize the National Center’s Case Reporting System on all deaths that undergo a local team review.

In addition, data is entered into an Access database by the state CDR coordinator at the Department of Social Services.

Annual Report

To achieve its purpose, the SCFAC shall submit to the Governor and the General Assembly, an annual written report and any other reports prepared by the committee, including, but not limited to, the committee’s findings and recommendations. Annual reports must be made available to the public. The 2019 CDR report is the most recent completed report.

Prevention Initiatives

The SCFAC documents prevention recommendations to be included in the annual report to guide the Governor and General Assembly in prevention initiatives.

An example of the SCFAC’s prevention initiatives include the goal of developing subcommittees for unsafe sleep and suicide child deaths.

Protocols

The SCFAC maintains protocols for confidentiality, governance, and operation.

Training

Professional development of state and local CDR teams continues to be a priority of the SCFAC. It is the goal of the CDR state coordinator to provide training opportunities for local CDR teams.

Last Updated: July 2021