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State Spotlight - New Hampshire
 Last updated: February 2008
Marc Clement
Colby-Sawyer College
541 Main Street
New London, NH 03257
Phone: 603-526-3652
Fax: 603-526-3452
Email: mclement@colby-sawyer.edu
Danielle O’Gorman
Program Specialist
NH Dept of Justice
33 Capitol Street
Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603-271-3671
Fax: 603-271-2110
Email: dogorman@doj.state.nh.us
Website: http://doj.nh.gov/victim/child_fatality.html
Reports
Mortality Statistics
Program Description
Administration
In 1991, the Governor signed an Executive Order creating a
multi-disciplinary Child Fatality Review Committee (CFRC) in New
Hampshire. The program is funded by the New Hampshire Department of
Justice through the Children's Justice Act Grant. The CFRC is housed
out of the Department of Justice, which also administers the Citizens
Review Panel.
Teams
New Hampshire has a state CFR team.
State Team: (Chairperson - Marc Clement)
Members of the Committee include medical, law enforcement, judicial,
legal, victim services, public health, mental health, child protection
and education representatives. Currently, the Committee has a
dual structure consisting of:
- A full committee, which convenes bimonthly to
conduct in-depth reviews of specific cases involving child fatalities.
Cases to be reviewed by the Full Committee may be selected by
individual members or agencies.
- An Executive Committee, which convenes on alternate
months to select cases for review, collect data and provide
organizational support to the Committee. They invite participants from
outside the committee who have had direct involvement with the child or
family prior to the child’s death.
Reviews
The New Hampshire Child Fatality Review Committee reviews child deaths
up to and including 18 years of age. They do not review cases that have
criminal and/or civil matters pending. Case reviews are conducted
retrospectively. Cases are not reviewed if they are in
court. The Committee also conducts cluster reviews.
In 1995, the Governor signed an
Executive Order authorizing the CFRC to have access to all existing
records regarding child deaths, including social service reports, court
documents, police records, autopsy reports, mental health records,
hospital or medical data and other information that may be relevant to
the review of a particular child death.
In 2004, the Committee held joint reviews with the domestic violence
review team. The domestic violence team has some different
members but overall the review process worked very well.
Purpose
The purpose of the New Hampshire CFR Program is prevention.
Data
Standardized data reporting forms are completed for all reviews.
New
Hampshire CFR has access to state vital statistics. Vital statistics
are used to aid the reviews.
Annual Report
New Hampshire does produce an annual report. Included in their
10th annual report are responses to recommendations made by the
Committee in the previous year.
Prevention Initiatives
CFR findings have
influenced policy changes. Statewide examples include the support of
the expansion of "Sudden Death Response Teams"; the encouragement of
medical providers to offer up-to-date product safety info to new
parents; the review of model legislation pertaining to thrift store
product safety; development of bereavement packets to be given to
families and many more. An example of how CFR findings have motivated
prevention activities is the use of the media to promote education and
prevention efforts in accidental deaths.
Protocols
New Hampshire has a review protocol in place.
Training
Training is provided.
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