Approved Minutes of May 22, 2024

Browse Search

MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH May 22, 2024 VI. Approval of April 24, 2024 Minutes Motion to approve the minutes of the April 24, 2024 BOH meeting was made by Dr. Brian Crandell, seconded by Dr. Alison Stuebe, and carried without dissent. VII. Educational Sessions A. Child Fatality Prevention Team Annual Report Dana Crews, Community Health Services Director, provided the annual update on the Child Fatality Prevention Team Report. Some highlights of her presentation are below: • As the board had previously talked in-depth about concerns about housing insecurity and homelessness, Ms. Crews shared that a parent experiencing homelessness also impacts their children, particularly when the children are in the foster system. She explained that a parent experiencing homelessness can prevent reunification and sometimes parents struggle to work with landlords due to a history of substance use disorders, felony convictions, or eviction. Dr. Jonnal shared that she sometimes sees foster children with behavioral issues being brought into the ER by Department of Social Services (DSS) workers when they have nowhere else to go, and that these children just stay indefinitely in empty rooms in the ER. • Ms. Crews explained the purpose and goals of the Child Fatality Prevention Team (CFPT). She clarified that the team reviews cases of fatalities for children (0-17yrs). Cases related to suspected abuse or neglect, are reviewed by the Community Child Protection Team (CCPT) at DSS. • While covering CFPT funding, Ms. Crews explained that much of the funding wasn't spent during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it was previously used for refreshments at in- person meetings. As the funding does not roll over, they used the unspent funds from the past year to purchase car seats for families in need. • No systems issues were identified that could be addressed with policy changes, but many of the fatalities in the report involved a parent leaving the hospital without their child, so priorities include ensuring that there is follow-up with families after leaving the hospital and providing bereavement and mental health resources, especially those culturally appropriate for Latino/a/e communities. • In response to Dr. Royce's question about detailed information and numbers, Ms. Crews explained that she did not have them tonight but could get them. • Dr. Stuebe was interested in child fatalities related to birth defects or perinatal conditions, and asked several questions, including what qualifies as a birth defect, when did the birthing parent receive prenatal care, and are the birthing parent's medical records available. Ms. Crews explained that some of this data is available but often parts of it are incomplete or missing, particularly the birthing parent's records. Dr. Royce added that the data from the medical portions of the birth and death certificates should give a clear idea of the condition, so long as the CFPT receives the medical part of the birth certificate. Ms. Crews confirmed that the CFPT receives both the medical part of the birth certificate and the death certificate, but this is often missing details of conditions affecting the birthing parent. • In response to Dr. Crandell's question, Ms. Crews confirmed that the age range covered by the report is from birth to 17, and that CFPT does investigate accidental deaths. She S:\Managers Working Files\BOH\Agendas &Abstracts\2024 Agenda and Abstracts/ May Page 4