Child Fatality & Serious Injury Review Team

The death of a child is a tragedy for the entire community. The terrible loss is shared by family, friends, and the community as a whole.

Child fatality review tries to make sense of this terrible tragedy in two important ways. Understanding why a child died may save the lives of other children in the future; recognizing the way children are lost in our community can inform effective education and prevention strategies.

The Niagara County Child Fatality & Serious Injury Review Team [CFRT] is a multidisciplinary team established under New York State Social Services Law §422-b and approved by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. Niagara County’s CFRT is conducted through a partnership between Niagara County Social Services and the Child Advocacy Center.

The purpose of the CFRT is to prevent future deaths and promote child safety through confidential, thorough, comprehensive, multidisciplinary examination of the cause, manner, and circumstances of a child’s death in Niagara County. The team includes law enforcement, social services, medical professionals, coroners, and other professionals and service providers and reviews sudden, unexplained deaths of minors aged 17 and under.

Promoting safe sleep is a priority of the Niagara County Child Fatality Review Team. For more resources, visit Safe Sleep for Babies.

For more information contact the Child Fatality Review Team Coordinator at (716) 285-0045.

The Niagara County Child Fatality Review Team is made possible by a grant from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services to the Niagara County Department of Social Services.