Overview
The Child Fatality Prevention System (CFPS) is a statewide, legislatively mandated, multidisciplinary, multi-agency network to prevent child deaths. Since 1989, the CFPS has reviewed child deaths in Colorado to describe trends and patterns and identify prevention strategies. Housed at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, CFPS consists of at least 43 local child fatality prevention review teams (local teams), a 46-member State Review Team, and the CDPHE State Support Team.
The CDPHE State Support Team works with county and district public health agencies to coordinate 43 local teams that review deaths of infants, children, and youth under 18 in Colorado and to implement strategies to prevent future deaths. Local teams include community members and experts from law enforcement, coroner, legal, human services, schools, public health, medical, and mental health to ensure a comprehensive review and development of prevention initiatives. The CFPS State Review Team develops prevention and data quality recommendations based on aggregated legislative data for the legislature on preventing child deaths in an annual legislative report. CFPS works to prevent child deaths by collaborating with partners working on issues that share many of the same prevention strategies, such as the Sexual Violence Prevention Program, Motor Vehicle Safety Program, Office of Suicide Prevention, and the Title V Maternal and Child Health Program. This gives CFPS the opportunity to collaborate with other programs, leverage resources, and prevent child deaths by changing the environments where people and families live, work, learn, and play.
Learn more about the CFPS Review Team
- Motor vehicle crashes.
- Sudden unexpected infant death.
- Suicide.
- Child maltreatment.
- Unintentional injuries (such as poisoning, falls, fires, or drowning).
- Homicide.
- Undetermined.
In addition to the types of deaths listed, once the death year closes a forensic pathologist reviews the year's natural deaths to ensure all deaths that meet the statutory requirement for a review, are reviewed.
The graphic shows CFPS at the center of a circle that is outlined by the three overarching categories of people and professionals who attend Child Fatality Reviews and within the circle is a breakdown of the types of people and professionals in those categories.
Three overarching categories of people and professionals
- CDPHE State Support Team
- Local Teams
- State Review team
Types of people and professionals
- Medical
- Mental health
- Coronor
- Public health
- Legal
- Human services
- Schools
- Community members
- Law enforcement
Every year, the CFPS State Review Team develops prevention and data quality recommendations to prevent child deaths in Colorado based on aggregated data. The recommendations and data from the system are compiled into the annual Child Fatality Prevention System 2024 Legislative Report submitted to the Colorado General Assembly on July 1.
The Colorado Child Fatality Prevention System Data Dashboard is a valuable resource for partners. It provides counts, rates, and circumstances of death for all jurisdictions across Colorado, summarizing some of the most frequently requested data from the system.
Pursuant to Colorado Revised Statutes 25-20.5-407 (1) (i), the CFPS State Review Team is required to collaborate with the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) Child Fatality Review Team, which reviews incidents of fatal, near fatal or egregious abuse or neglect determined to be a result of child maltreatment when the child or family had previous involvement with the child welfare system within the last three years.
CFPS and CDHS partner to make joint recommendations to prevent child fatalities, prevent future incidents of maltreatment and strengthen the systems which provide direct service to children and families.
Contact us
For more information about the Child Fatality Prevention System, please contact Shiv Sunger, Child Fatality Prevention System Manager at shiv.sunger@state.co.us.