CHILD DEATH REVIEW TEAM ORGANIZED

Cape Girardeau County's Child Fatality Review Team is ready to go.

"We're ready if we're called upon, but hopefully situations will never present themselves in Cape Girardeau County where we'll have to use it," said county Coroner and team member John Carpenter. "Those chances are probably pretty slim."

A bill signed by Gov. John Ashcroft in June required the prosecuting attorney of each county to form a child-death review team. Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said the teams originally were scheduled to be in place by Aug. 28, but the Missouri Department of Social Services revised the timetable to have the teams ready by Jan. 1.

Swingle said he hoped it would be a long time before the team had to review its first case. "There are no pending cases right now that we are specifically going to investigate," he said.

The bill, now law, requires a review of any death of a child under 15 years of age and mandates autopsies for any child from one week to one year of age who dies "suddenly when in apparent good health."

Team members met for the first time Wednesday morning at the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department, authorities said. The teams are to include the county's coroner and prosecuting attorney, and law enforcement, medical, juvenile and state Division of Family Services officials.

The meeting lasted a little over two hours, Carpenter said. Members covered the law, introduced themselves, and set up the team's mode of operation, Carpenter said.

Carpenter stressed the team is made up to review child deaths rather than be an investigate body. Not all cases reviewed will be for criminal prosecution, he said. The goal is to look at what caused the child's death and what can be done to avoid similar deaths in the future. Some child abuse cases and some accidental deaths will be involved, he said.

"It's hopefully to stop child deaths for whatever reasons," he said.

For instance, Carpenter said, the team might look into the type of case where a child comes into the hospital and dies of pneumonia. Team members would look into whether the child had adequate nourishment, heat and clothing, he said. If the family was financially unable to provide the child with these necessities, he said, the team could work at getting the family aid.

"It's a good program. It's going to be a benefit to the coroner's office and the law enforcement agencies and the judicial system," said Carpenter.

Swingle said in mid-February the team will have a training session where it will review two county child-death cases that occurred within the last few years, just as if the children had died the day before. "I'd rather not say which cases we're actually going to use because we are doing them just for practice," he said.

The team will also check into having its investigators receive additional training, said Swingle. He said the team anticipated sending the investigators to state training for criminal investigators that will be available early next year.

Scott County Prosecuting Attorney David Dolan said Thursday he had all the mandatory members for his county's team. All he still needed, he said, was for two people to telephone him to let him know whether they are willing to serve as team civilian members.

"I hope to hear back from these other people today, and then I can get them all wrapped up and (we'll hold) the first meeting as soon as we can."

Bollinger County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Hahn could not be reached Thursday. County Coroner Gene Ward said the county did not yet have a team operating, but that Hahn had "quite a lot of paperwork" done in relation to the team.

Nine team members exist in Cape Girardeau County along with 11 alternates. Along with Swingle and Carpenter, the members are Swingle's investigator, Karen Buchheit; Charlotte Craig, director of the county's health department; county Deputy Juvenile Officer Dona Heisserer; the Division of Family Services' county director, Dennis Reagan; Lt. John Jordan of the county sheriff's department; Jackson Police Department Det. Larry Wade; and Lt. John Brown, chief of detectives at the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

The team's alternates include Drs. James E. Hoffman and Rod Crist, both of Cape Girardeau.

Dolan said the mandatory team members in Scott County are Coroner Scott Amick; Don Cento, pathologist at Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston; Bill Lawson, chief juvenile officer for Scott and Mississippi counties; Division of Family Services official Jerry Mann; and Brenda Schiwitz of the Scott County Sheriff's Department.