Last updated:  April 2011

Teresa Brechlin
Utah Department of Health
Violence and Injury Prevention Program
P.O. Box 142106
Salt Lake City, UT 84114-2106
Phone: 801-538-6888
Fax: 801-538-9134 
Email: tbrechlin@utah.gov

Website:  http://www.health.utah.gov/vipp/childFatality/overview.html
 

Tools

• Utah Child Fatality Legislation

• Utah Child Fatality Review Report, 1996-1998
• Domestic Violence Fatalities in Utah 2000-2002, A Report from the Utah Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee

• Utah Child Mortality Data, 2002
• Utah Child Mortality Data, 2003
• Utah Child Mortality Data, 2005
• Utah Child Mortality Data, 2006
• Utah Child Mortality Data, 2007

Administration
Utah’s Child Fatality Committee was established in 1993. Funding for the program comes from the Maternal and Child Health block grant. This funding is stable. There is one full time employee that staffs the program at the state level. The program is housed out of the health department which also administers the domestic violence review process and suicide prevention programs. 

Teams

State Team:(Chairperson - Teresa Brechlin)
This team has 25 members. The full team meets quarterly. There is also a rapid response committee that meets monthly. 

Reviews
The Utah State Team conducts a full review on all suspicious, unexplained or unexpected deaths. Additionally, all injury deaths receive a committee review and all death certificates receive a medical review. The team reviews deaths to children age 18 and under.

Purpose
The purpose of the Utah Child Fatality Committee is to investigate, prevent deaths and provide quality assurance and services. 

Data
A standardized data reporting form is completed on every review. The committee has access to state vital statistics, which are used as database identifiers and for data collection. The Department of Health stores the child fatality data on a server in house and analyzes it using Microsoft Access. 

Annual Report
The Utah Child Fatality Committee produces a report every three years. This is distributed to the Child Fatality Committee, local health departments, health department officials, the media, hospitals and libraries. Currently, they are creating topic specific fact sheets. 

Prevention Initiatives
Findings from the review process have influenced policy changes in Utah. These include seat belt/car seat/booster seat legislation and the initiation of a youth suicide study. Additionally, child fatality review findings have motivated prevention efforts. There has been a higher level of media coverage and prevention activities by local coalitions.

Protocols
Utah has several protocols in place including CFR meeting, confidentiality, child/infant death scene investigation and a death certificate review process.

Training
Training is not offered at this time.