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<section article="ghg" article_name="Health - General" number="5-706" title_number="5" title_name="Death" subtitle_number="7" subtitle_name="Child Fatality Review Teams">
  <level label="a">
    <text>The purpose of the local team is to prevent child deaths by:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Promoting cooperation and coordination among agencies involved in investigations of child deaths or in providing services to surviving family members;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Developing an understanding of the causes and incidence of child deaths in the county;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Developing plans for and recommending changes within the agencies the members represent to prevent child deaths; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>Advising the State Team on changes to law, policy, or practice to prevent child deaths.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>To achieve its purpose, the local team shall:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>In consultation with the State Team, establish and implement a protocol for the local team;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Set as its goal the investigation of child deaths in accordance with national standards;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Meet at least quarterly to review the status of child fatality cases, recommend actions to improve coordination of services and investigations among member agencies, and recommend actions within the member agencies to prevent child deaths;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>Collect and maintain data as required by the State Team;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>Provide requested reports to the State Team, including discussion of individual cases, steps taken to improve coordination of services and investigations, steps taken to implement changes recommended by the local team within member agencies, and recommendations on needed changes to State and local law, policy, and practice to prevent child deaths; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="6">
      <text>In consultation with the State Team:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Define “near fatality”; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Develop procedures and protocols that local teams and the State Team may use to review cases of near fatality.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <text>In addition to the duties specified in subsection (b) of this section, a local team may investigate the information and records of a child convicted of a crime or adjudicated as having committed a delinquent act that caused a death or near fatality described in § 5–707 of this subtitle.</text>
  </level>
</section>
