Brown County Prosecuting Attorney Ted Adams has formed a local Brown County Child Fatality Review Team with the hopes of identifying and preventing future deaths or injuries to other children.
The team, known as the CFRT, will conduct a comprehensive and multidisciplinary review of any child fatalities in Brown County in order to better understand and identify the cause of death and take action to help prevent future deaths and injuries to children.
“The goal of our CFRT is to improve the lives, health, and safety of our most vulnerable citizens,” Adams said. “While ideally I hope we never have to utilize our diverse set of skills, it will be a useful tool at our disposal to ensure safety.
“I am really very proud of our CFRT; we have a tremendous group of volunteers with diverse backgrounds and skill sets. I would also note that they are, each and every one, a volunteer.”
The Brown County CFRT consists of Adams, who was also nominated as the chairman; Brian Shrader representing law enforcement; Earl Piper as the Brown County coroner; Kelli Hilligoss representing the Brown County Health Department; Jonathon Dauterman representing the Department of Child Services; Laura Hammack representing Brown County Schools; Dr. Marin Garcia, physician; Amanda Kinnaird representing a mental health provider; David Frensemeier, a representative EMS provider; and Glenn Elmore, a representative volunteer firefighter. Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Rob Seet also will participate in the meetings.
The CFRT is statutorily recommended with the representatives suggested by the Indiana code.
“Thankfully, we have been fortunate in not having a pressing need for the CFRT; however, a recent tragic incident convinced me that such a review would be beneficial for our Brown County citizens,” Adams said.
“I appreciate the dedication of our representatives and members; they helped make this a fiscally prudent way to provide additional services through their respective disciplines to improve Brown County and promote safety.”
Adams said that the CFRT voted to keep the representatives local, and to keep the review focused only on Brown County as opposed to joining a regional team.
Adams also stressed that his office’s function is different than that of the CFRT. “If criminal charges need to be filed, that would be a decision independent of the Brown County CFRT,” he said.
Due to the nature of the meetings, such meetings are closed to the public. The CFRT members are required to sign a confidentiality agreement to participate. Adams stated that the team has already met once and will be conducting its first review in the next month or two.
