Richard Burleson
Director Alabama Child Death Review
The RSA Tower
201 Monroe Street, Suite 1354
Montgomery, AL 36104
Phone: 334-206-2953
Fax: 334-206-2983
Email: richard.burleson@adph.state.al.us
Aretha Bracy
Assistant Director
Alabama Child Death Review
The RSA Tower
201 Monroe Street, Suite 1354
Montgomery, AL 36104
Phone: 334-206-2951
Fax: 334-206-2983
Email: aretha.bracy@adph.state.al.us
Administration
The Alabama Child Death Review System (ACDRS) was established by statute (Section 26-16-90 et seq.) in 1997. ACDRS has an annual budget of approximately $350,000 that is funded by Children's First legislation. This legislation receives its financial support from the National Tobacco Settlement. These settlement monies are appropriated year to year. Those funds are supplemented by a Medicaid reimbursement agreement which provides additional funding exclusively for outreach and education efforts.
The program is administratively located within the Alabama Department of Public Health, Bureau of Family Health Services, Division of Children’s Health. Three full-time employees staff the program at the state level. These positions are a Director, Assistant Director and Administrative Assistant.
Teams Alabama has both state and local CDR teams which are mandated. The
Alabama Child Death Review System is a member of the Southeast Coalition
of Child Death Review.
State Team: The team consists of 28 members and meets quarterly. The team is responsible
for identifying trends that place children at risk and identifying interventions
that will prevent further deaths. This team makes recommendations for changes
in state statute, regulation or policy. They also support local teams training
and service needs.
Local Teams: For most local teams, the District Attorney serves as the chair. Each
team has a Coordinator who is responsible for receiving death certificates,
collecting review information and convening the meetings. The Coordinator
is also responsible for completing the data collection tool and sending
the information to the State Office. There are 53 teams that cover 41 judicial
circuits across the state which meet as needed. These teams are responsible
for making recommendations that are communicated to the State CDR Team.
Local teams have the option to meet immediately or periodically and they
do so as need dictates. Local teams often come together immediately to
share information and expertise when an infant is found dead from no apparent
cause and help is needed to further investigation. This practice varies
across the state. Local team members serve as volunteers.
Reviews Local Alabama CDR teams review unexpected and unexplained deaths to
children less than 18 years old. The State Alabama CDR Office is responsible
for sending child death certificates to local teams to assist in their
review process.
Purpose
ACDRS’s mission is to understand how and why children die in Alabama, in order to prevent future child deaths.
Data
Standardized data are collected for all review cases. The local Coordinator submits information to the State Office electronically via the National MCH Center’s online system. The CDR program has a contract with the University of Alabama to analyze the data for the Annula Reports. The Alabama CDR program has access to all state vital statistics data for child death cases.
Annual Report
Alabama produces an Annual Report that is distributed to the Governor, Legislators, various State Agencies, and elsewhere throughout the state.
Prevention Initiatives
ACDRS findings have influenced policy changes in Alabama. Some statewide examples include Safe Infant Sleep initiatives, the Secret Safe Place for Newborns, Statewide Abusive Head Trauma (formerly Shaken Baby Syndrome) awareness and prevention campaigns, changes in policies and regulations of licensed child day care centers, primary seatbelt legislation, and a Graduated Driver’s License law.
Protocols Alabama has a variety of protocols in place including CDR meeting,
child death investigation and confidentiality.
Training
ACDRS routinely offers training for all state- and local-level participants. ACDRS is also involved prominently in developing and offering SUIDI training in Alabama.
