title: Child deaths in Virginia, 1996: a review of investigations of sudden, unexpected, or unnatural deaths of children less than age 13.
abstract: This study examines the consistency of investigative procedures used by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, law enforcement, and child protective services, when investigating the violent, sudden, unexpected, or unnatural deaths of children. The study also assessed the status of communication and cooperation among the investigating agencies, to determine whether improvements in the level of cooperation and communication among the systems recommended by prior legislative studies had been achieved. The subjects of this study were children from birth through age 12 who died a sudden, unexpected, or unnatural death in Virginia in 1996. The findings from this research provide both justification to celebrate the progress that has been made and the stimulus to improve the investigation into the sudden, unexpected, or unnatural deaths of children in Virginia. Data suggested that the level of cooperation and communication among child protective services workers, medical examiners, and law enforcement personnel in Virginia had increased between 1986 and 1996. The results demonstrated that some investigative procedures were consistent, especially within regional boundaries. However, the results also showed that inconsistencies exist in the way some deaths are investigated, and that room for improvement exists.
authors.affiliation: Center for Public Policy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Maloney
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Fierro
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001344:Autopsy; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003334:Coroners and Medical Examiners; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D016495:Police; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D014768:Virginia / Q000453:epidemiology