Child deaths in Nevada reviewed by special panel

A total of 41 children died in Nevada during the first quarter of this year, according to a report presented Tuesday to the administrative team reviewing child death rates and causes.

Of those, 27 were in Clark and the remaining 14 in Washoe County. No deaths were reported through March 31 in Nevada's rural districts and the Carson City area, according to the report.

Of those on the list, 10 were children who were in the custody or involved somehow with an agency providing child-welfare services. Eight were from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Eleven were listed as accidents, three from homicide and three from suicide. The statistics are for all children from newborns to the day before their 18th birthday.

The team was created to not only improve tracking of child deaths in the state, but to better determine the most common causes and do something about them.

The panel, headed by Michael Capello of the Washoe County Department of Social Services, is charged with preparing recommendations ranging from legal changes to new policies and extensive education programs. The programs are not only for law enforcement and social-services providers but parents, educators and children themselves.

Among the proposed recommendations are several designed to strengthen reporting and investigations of unexpected child deaths. They include mandating autopsies and law-enforcement investigations of all child deaths when a welfare or social services case is open, notification of the coroner and law enforcement whenever a child death, occurs and investigation of all unexpected child deaths.

The group was formed late last year after criticism from lawmakers and advocates that the state and county agencies were under-reporting the number of child deaths.

A report released by the state December 1 showed 1,041 child deaths in Nevada between 2002 and 2004.

The most disturbing statistic, according to Human Services Director Mike Willden, was that 114 of those deaths - 10 percent of the total - could be due to abuse or neglect.

The final report for 2005 was still being prepared by the Division of Child and Family Services but the administrative team received preliminary numbers for the first quarter of this year as they met Tuesday to review a list of more than 70 recommendations for improving child health and protection in the state.

The list of recommendations is still preliminary.

Some changes could be implemented by social service agencies without new legislation. Others would require legal changes.

The plan is to have recommendations ready for the 2007 Legislature.

• Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.