Durham County Child Fatality Local Team

A statewide multi-disciplinary, multiagency child fatality prevention system was developed starting in the 1990’s consisting of the North Carolina Child Fatality Prevention Team, North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force and two Teams in each county, Child Fatality Prevention Teams (CFPT) and Community Child Protection Teams (CCPT). Community Child Protection Teams were established in 1991 to review selected active cases of child abuse/neglect and cases in which a child died as result of suspected abuse/neglect. Local Child Fatality Prevention Teams were established in 1993 to review all “additional” child fatalities and make recommendations to state policy makers. In 2023, changes to the child fatality prevention system became law via the 2023 Appropriations Act [Section 9H.15. of Session Law 2023-134]. In December 2024, Senate bill 382, now Session Law 2024-57, was passed, changing the effective dates for these changes. With the passage of this second piece of legislation, most of the changes to the system within the new law and associated funding have an effective date of either July 2025 or January 2026.

The Community Child Protection and Child Fatality Prevention Teams (CCPT/CFPT) were established and designated by the Durham County Board of County Commissioners, pursuant to North Carolina General Statute Section 7B-1406. The team promoted the development of a community-wide approach to the problems of child abuse and neglect and sought ways to protect children from preventable deaths. To accomplish this mission, the team worked under procedures established by the director of the Durham Department of Social Services in collaboration with the director of the Durham County Department of Public Health. The team reviewed selected cases that were being serviced by child protective services and cases in which a child had died of suspected abuse or neglect as the work of Community Child Protection. The teams also reviewed all additional child deaths, ages 0-17, through the Medical Examiner system as the work of Child Fatality Prevention.  These child deaths were not due to suspected abuse and neglect and had no report for abuse and neglect to the Department of Social Services in the prior 12 months.  Annual recommendations were presented to the Board of County Commissioners and the appropriate state Team Coordinator regarding any system improvements or needed resources where deficiencies may have existed.

Effective July 1, 2025, the CCPT/CFPT transitioned from a blended configuration to one of North Carolina’s Child Fatality Local Teams; the combined team based in Durham is now referred to as the Durham County Child Fatality Local Team. Each Local Team has the responsibility to review all child deaths of resident children under age 18 in the county or counties comprising the Local Team that fall under one of the following categories of death:
(1) Undetermined causes.
(2) Unintentional injury.
(3) Violence.
(4) Motor vehicle incidents.
(5) Pursuant to criteria set forth in G.S. 7B-1407.5, deaths related to child maltreatment or child deaths involving a child or child's family who was reported or known to child protective services.
(6) Sudden unexpected infant death.
(7) Suicide.
(8) Deaths not expected in the next six months.
(9) Additional infant deaths according to the criteria established by the State Office under G.S. 7B-1407.6.

Each Local Team consists of representatives of agencies in the community that provide services to children and their families as well as other individuals who represent the community at large; each Local Team consists of the following designated members:
• The director of the county department of social services or the director of the consolidated human services agency
• Department of Social Services, or consolidated human services agency, staff member
• A local law enforcement officer
• An attorney from the district attorney's office
• The executive director of the local community action agency, or designee
• The superintendent of each local school administrative unit located in the county, or designee
• A member of the county board of social services
• A local mental health professional
• The local guardian ad litem coordinator, or designee
• The director of the local department of public health
• A local health care provider
• An emergency medical services provider or firefighter
• A district court judge
• A county medical examiner
• A representative of a local childcare facility or Head Start program
• A parent of a child who died before reaching the child's eighteenth birthday
- Five additional individuals may be invited, by the chair of the Local Team, to participate on an ad hoc basis to enhance the fatality review.
- Members of the State Office shall serve as an ex officio member of each Local Team that reviews the records of additional child fatalities.