Child Death Review Board seeks policy traction for preventable deaths, adds injury‑prevention specialist

Annette Jacoby, executive director of the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth, told the committee that the Child Death Review Board (CDRB) compiles multidisciplinary reviews of child deaths that are potentially preventable or related to abuse/neglect. Jacoby said the board reviews roughly 40–45% of the 5–600 annual deaths of Oklahomans age 0–18 and that about 34% of reviewed deaths are infants under 1 year old, with the second peak at ages 16–17 driven largely by driving fatalities.

Program manager Liz Kopp explained modern terminology for infant deaths — sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) with intrinsic and extrinsic contributing factors — and said many reviewed infant deaths involve sleep environment risks combined with intrinsic factors such as viral illness.

Jacoby said the board increased staff from one to five full‑time employees since 2017 and has begun using grant funds (Michigan Public Health Institute) to collect and share aggregate data for cross‑state research. The board has added an injury‑prevention specialist to translate trends into training, policy recommendations and outreach. Jacoby listed four recommendations the board plans to seek change on this year; she specifically highlighted the state’s lack of a rear‑seat belt requirement for some children and said the board will double‑check statutory detail before proceeding.

The committee asked about the board’s influence on policy, the difficulty of cross‑state rankings, and the board’s multidisciplinary makeup; Jacoby said the board values independence and aggregate analysis and partners across agencies to advance system‑level improvements.