December 14, 2020

The Child Fatality Task Force’s Committee on Intentional Death Prevention met today to discuss policy recommendations for the upcoming legislative session and to receive an update from NC Division of Social Services on the Child Welfare Reform and Family First Prevention Services Act. Presentations from the committee meeting can be found here.

The committee first discussed action items related to student mental health and child abuse and neglect reporting (slides 1-12). The committee approved the following policy recommendations:

  1. Administrative support to follow implementation of new
    provisions in the NC Board of Education School Mental Health
    Policy that relate to strengthened school/community connections
    to address student mental health; information on implementation
    to be studied by the Intentional Death Prevention Committee prior
    to the 2022 legislative session.
  2. Appropriate recurring funding to increase the number of school
    social workers, school nurses, school counselors, and school
    psychologists to support the physical and mental health of
    students and to move North Carolina toward achieving nationally
    recommended ratios for these professional positions in schools.
  3. Administrative support for continued efforts to strengthen
    education and awareness surrounding child abuse and neglect
    reporting, including strengthening ongoing training for law
    enforcement that also supports an understanding of trauma and
    mental health; and training that is tailored for healthcare
    providers.
  4. Legislation that would add child abuse and neglect reporting
    requirements to the topic list for required mental health training
    for school personnel in Session Law 2020-7.

The committee then reviewed the Infant Safe Surrender law in the state (slides 13- 27). In 2001 North Carolina passed S.L. 2001-291, known by many as the “Infant Safe Surrender” law. This law was originally recommended and advanced by the NC Child Fatality Task Force. Infant safe surrender or “safe haven” laws exist in every state and are designed to provide a safe alternative for a desperate parent of a newborn who may be tempted to engage in actions harmful to the infant. In recent years the Child Fatality Task Force, with input from experts in juvenile law, examined the Safe Surrender law and developed recommended changes to strengthen the law. The recommendations were addressed in 2019 in House Bill 799, which did not advance. Last year the Intentional Death Committee paused this recommendation with plans to reconsider prior to 2021 session. The committee approved recommendations to strengthen the law to make it more likely the law will be used in the circumstances for which it was intended to protect a newborn infant at risk of abandonment or harm by making legislative changes, including:

  1. Remove the word “adult” from those designated to accept a surrendered infant;
  2. Provide information to a surrendering parent;
  3. Strengthen protection of a surrendering parent’s identity;
  4. Incorporate steps to help ensure the law is only applied when criteria is met.

Lastly, the committee received an update from NC Division of Social Services on the Child Welfare Reform and Family First Prevention Services Act (slides 28-49). The full Child Fatality Task Force will meet on January 11, 2021 to approve final policy recommendations for the 2021 legislative session.