Last updated:  February 2008

Heidi Hilliard
Michigan Public Health Institute
2440 Woodlake Circle, Suite 150
Okemos, MI 48864
Phone: 517-324-7330 
Fax: 517-324-7365 
Email: hhilliar@mphi.org

Website: http://www.keepingkidsalive.org/

Tools

• Michigan Child Death Review Team Protocols
• State of Michigan Protocols to Determine Cause and Manner of Sudden and Unexplained Child Deaths
• Michigan Child Death Review Legislation

• Michigan Child Death State Advisory Team, First Annual Report, Executive Summary, June 1999
• Michigan Child Death State Advisory Team, First Annual Report, June 1999
• Michigan Child Death State Advisory Team, Second Annual Report, Executive Summary
• Michigan Child Death State Advisory Team, Second Annual Report
• Michigan Child Death State Advisory Team, Third Annual Report
• Michigan Child Death State Advisory Team, Fourth Annual Report
• Michigan Child Death State Advisory Team, Fifth Annual Report, Executive Summary
• Michigan Child Death State Advisory Team, Fifth Annual Report
• 2005 Annual Report on Asthma Deaths among Individuals Ages 2-34 in Michigan

• Michigan Child Mortality Data, 2002
• Michigan Child Mortality Data, 2003
• Michigan Child Mortality Data, 2005

Administration
The Michigan Child Death Review Program was established by statute (Section 722.627b) in 1997. The program has an annual budget of $450,000 and is funded by Michigan Department of Human Services. CDR is managed by the Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI). Funding for the program is year to year. On the state level, 4.75 full time employees staff the program. There are no paid positions at the local level. MPHI also administers the Michigan Fetal and Infant Mortality Review program, the Citizen Review Panel on Child Fatalities and the National Center for Child Death Review.

Teams
Michigan has 74 county-based review teams and a state-level advisory team. 

State Team Chairperson:  Ted Forrest, Department of Human Services
The team consists of 24 members and meets quarterly. They are responsible for reviewing the findings from the local teams and issuing an annual report with recommendations to the governor and legislature. The Michigan Child Death State Advisory Team also serves as the Citizen Review Panel on Child Fatalities.

Local Teams: (Chairperson - varies)
There are 83 counties in Michigan, all of which participate in child death review. Some counties have regional teams, consisting of two or more counties. Michigan has 74 local-level child death review teams.  Frequency of meetings varies by county. 

Reviews
Most of the local Michigan CDR teams review deaths that occur to children age 18 and under. Some only review through age 17, while a few (especially those counties containing colleges) review select cases through age 21. Teams in more populous counties may only review those deaths that fall under the jurisdiction of the medical examiner.

Purpose
To improve our understanding of how and why children die, to demonstrate the need for and to influence policies and programs to improve child health, safety and protection and to prevent other child deaths.

Key Objectives
1. Support local CDR teams throughout the state.
2. Ensure adequate training for all teams.
3. Support a State Advisory Team.
4. Support the state DHS Citizen Review Panel on Child Fatalities.
5. Implement standardized statewide multi-agency investigative protocols.
6. Link CDR to other state initiatives.
7. Encourage and support local prevention efforts.
8. Monitor a child mortality surveillance system.
9. Maintain status as a national model for CDR.

Data
Michigan is participating in the pilot data collection project with the National Center for Child Death Review. Case report forms are completed for all reviews, which is not required by state statute or policy. Michigan CDR has access to state vital statistics and uses that information to assess overall child death rates and to measure the completion of reviews. Data is stored electronically in SPSS and is analyzed for qualitative and quantitative information. 

Annual Report
Michigan produces an annual report, as required by state statute. The report is distributed to the governor, state legislators, local team members, state agencies, other state child fatality review programs and others as requested. 

Prevention Initiatives
Local teams have proposed over 2,000 initiatives to prevent child deaths since the program’s inception in 1995. Nearly 1,000 of these prevention initiatives are known to have been implemented in communities. CDR findings have lead to local activities such as water safety initiatives, suicide prevention, infant safe sleep, crib give-a-way programs and trigger lock give-a-way. Some of these efforts have been evaluated. The type of evaluation tool used varies by county.

CDR findings have also influenced program and policy changes at a state level. Changes include development of a State Suicide Prevention Plan, State Infant Safe Sleep Campaign, revisions of child care licensing rules, child passenger safety laws, graduated licensing provisions and the birth match project.

Protocols
Michigan has a variety of protocols in place including confidentiality, security and privacy, child death investigation and CDR meeting process.

Training
Training is provided on an annual basis for local review team members and is funded through program monies. Regional coordinator meetings are held annually, in five locations throughout the state. Additional trainings have occurred when outside funding sources have been available, and have covered topics such as death scene investigation, suicide prevention, and abusive head trauma.