State Spotlight - New Jersey

Last updated:  March 2011

Lisa Kay Hartmann
Child Death Review Team Coordinator
Department of Children and Families
Office of the Assistant Commissioner
50 E. State St. 7th floor
CC 924
Trenton, NJ 08628-0717
Phone: 609-888-7100
Fax: 609-984-0507
Email: Lisa.Hartmann@dcf.state.nj.us

Website: http://www.nj.gov/dcf/about/commissions/fatality/

Tools

Reports

Mortality Statistics

Program Description

Administration
New Jersey’s Child Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board (CFNFRB) was established in 1997 by legislation. New Jersey’s CDR Program is housed in the Department of Children and Families without dedicated funding. There are three in-kind staff at the state level for the program.

Teams
New Jersey has both state and local teams. The state level team is mandated by statute and the local teams are permitted.  New Jersey also has a Sudden Unexplained Infant Death team.

State Team: (Chairperson - Anthony D’Urso, Psy.D.)
The State Child Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board (CFNFRB) is composed of 13 ex-officio with expertise in the treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect. The board also has public members. The CFNFRB meets monthly to review the deaths of active child protection cases. By law, the board can determine which fatalities receive full review. The CFNFRB also serves as a Citizen’s Review Panel.

Local Teams:
The CFNFRB has established four Regional Community-Based Review Teams with the support of the Regional Child Protection Centers that meet monthly.  They look at all categories of child death with the exception of active child protection cases.  By law, these teams must include at a minimum, a person experienced in prosecution, a person experienced in local law enforcement investigation, a medical examiner, a public health advocate, a physician, preferably a pediatrician and a casework supervisor from a division field office. 

Reviews
Teams review deaths due to SIDS, suicide and abuse/neglect.  Deaths of children who had a history with social services or that were state wards are also reviewed.  Teams review deaths to children under the age of 18 years old.  Serious injuries are also reviewed in New Jersey using the following definition, "A serious or critical condition as a result of abuse of neglect, as certified by a physician, in which a child suffered a permanent mental or physical impairment, a life threatening injury or a condition that creates a probability of death within the foreseeable future".

Purpose
The purpose of the New Jersey CFR Program is prevention.

Data
Standardized data reporting forms are completed for all reviews. This is required by statute. Data are collected on the reviews and compiled in a database managed by the Department of Children and Families.

Annual Report
New Jersey does produce an annual report. This report is posted on the Department of Children and Families web site.

Prevention Initiatives
Findings from the review process have motivated prevention activities. The CFNFRB does support the efforts of the New Jersey Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect to develop a safe sleep campaign.

Protocols
The CFNFRB has meeting, confidentiality and child/infant death investigation protocols.

Training
The Department of Children and Families, in conjunction with the SIDS Center of New Jersey, is providing all child protection workers with safe sleeping training and awareness.