County spotlights public safety and child-welfare efforts; safe-sleep campaign highlighted in child-fatality report

Onslow County used its April 6 meeting to highlight public-safety recognition and child-welfare work, issuing five proclamations and hearing a child-fatality prevention report that emphasized education to reduce preventable deaths.

Vice Chairman Robin Nat presented a proclamation declaring April 22, 2026 as "Purple Up Day" to honor military children; representatives from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and school-liaison staff joined for the presentation. Commissioner Royce Bennett read a proclamation recognizing National Coin Week, and Commissioner John Davis presented a proclamation for Sturgeon City’s Earth Day celebration. The board also proclaimed April 2026 as Child Abuse Prevention Month and the week of April 12–18 as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

E911 Division Chief Stephanie Allen called forward and recognized telecommunicators who, staff said, have helped save lives by guiding callers through CPR and even assisted in child births on emergency calls. Allen named multiple recipients and their life-saving counts in a public recognition.

Kimberly Bailey, social work program manager with Child Protective Services, presented the county’s child fatality prevention annual report. Bailey said the cases reviewed from 2024 showed that about 18.8% of those deaths were associated with unsafe sleep, and described a 12-week safe-sleep billboard campaign and hospital and community education efforts to promote back-to-sleep practices, proper use of cribs and car-seat safety. Bailey said common barriers include difficulty obtaining timely medical records from partners (including military providers), gaps in access to mental-health services and inconsistent follow-through with safe-sleep recommendations during home visits.

Bailey said the county’s local team reviews medical examiner reports, police reports and service outcomes to identify prevention opportunities; she noted the county has increased trauma-informed training and is tracking mental-health referrals and clinical-unit resources. "We talk about resources and we talk about methods in which to enhance as a community because many of these deaths are preventable," she told commissioners.

Commissioners thanked staff and praised volunteer first responders and county programs. No formal board action was required for the proclamations or the report; staff indicated they will continue outreach and work with healthcare and military partners to address record-sharing and service-access barriers.

The report’s next steps include continued public education, tracking referrals and coordination between the health department, DSS and local hospitals and military treatment facilities.