A new law will require Colorado to take a closer look at cases of children who die from abuse and other unexpected causes.
Gov. Bill Owens signed legislation Thursday creating a “child fatality prevention system.” It establishes local review teams in each judicial district, plus a state review team, to examine the causes of child fatalities and recommend ways to reduce the death rate.
The legislation was introduced by Rep. Debbie Stafford, R-Aurora, in response to a 2003 Denver Post series about child- abuse deaths.
The series reported that 41 percent of child-abuse deaths during the previous decade were preceded by warnings – often multiple warnings – to county child protection agencies.
In 2004, Stafford proposed creation of a state ombudsman’s office to investigate complaints concerning child-protection agencies. That bill died in committee.
The new law requires local and state reviews when children die in the custody of the Department of Human Services or within one year of a report of suspected abuse or neglect.
It also calls for inquiries into other “unexpected and unexplained” deaths of children, such as sudden-infant-death cases, drownings, suicides and motor vehicle deaths. And it permits review teams to question a coroner’s opinion of the cause.
Stafford told fellow legislators she had been bombarded by “frustrated families” and hoped “to bring a very major reform to our child-protection system” in Colorado.
“We’ve got a cycle of child abuse that we’ve just got to break,” said Democratic Rep. Bernie Buescher, a co-sponsor. “These review teams, I think, are an excellent idea.”
The Post investigation found that some children died after caseworkers were repeatedly told about injuries, or their supervisors failed to pursue complaints.
Others died after hospitals sent them home with skull fractures or police failed to report recurring domestic violence.
In many cases, including deaths of foster children, a state system created to learn from child-abuse deaths reported little or nothing about prior agency involvement.