Pennsylvania Child Death Review Program
The mission of the Pennsylvania Child Death Review (CDR) program is to promote the safety and well being of children and reduce preventable child fatalities. This is accomplished through timely reviews of child deaths. Information obtained from the reviews is used to determine how future deaths can be prevented.
The State CDR team was created in November 1994. In October 2008, legislation was enacted in Pennsylvania mandating the CDR Program. This law became effective in January 2009 and is referred to as Act 87. Statewide and county-based CDR teams conduct reviews of all deaths of children age 21 and under. Currently, there are 61 CDR teams throughout Pennsylvania. The teams are comprised of medical professionals, social workers, district attorneys, coroners, children and youth agencies, nurses, and others. CDR teams analyze data in order to develop the most effective prevention strategies to reduce the number of preventable child deaths in Pennsylvania. The teams design prevention education, trainings, and recommendations for legislation and public policy.
The CDR program is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, staff support for this program is provided through the Bureau of Family Health.
Annual Reports
Contact Information
Bureau of Family Health
Division of Bureau Operations
Child Death Review Program
625 Forster St.
Health and Welfare Building
7th Floor, East Wing
Harrisburg, PA 17120-0701
717-346-3000 or 1-877-PA-HEALTH (1-877-724-3258)