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Dare County commissioners created a Local Fatality Team to review yearly all child deaths that occur in the county.

North Carolina is transitioning from a Community Child Protection Team and Child Fatality Prevention Team to one team called the Local Fatality Team. Chuck Lycett, the county’s director of the Social Services Division, told the commissioners that Dare County had combined the teams about 25 years ago.

The state’s legislation to combine the boards will be effective July 1, 2025. Dare’s commissioners agreed to a single county team rather that a multi-county team at the recommendation from Lycett and Sheila Davies, director of the Dare County Health and Human Services Department.

The existing team has 16 members, all identified by positions such as law enforcement officer, attorney from the district attorney’s office, superintendent or designee of local school unit, district court judge, health care provider.

Two positions needed to be filled: emergency medical service providers or firefighters and the parent of a child who died before reaching the child’s 18th birthday. The commissioners appointed Captain Stephen Burritt with Emergency Medical Services and Beth Storie as a parent who lost a child before the age of 18.

The Local Fatality Team will review the following child deaths: “undetermined causes, unintentional injury, violence, motor vehicle incidents, sudden unexpected infant death, suicide, deaths not expected in the next six months and deaths related to child maltreatment or child deaths involving a child or child’s family who was reported to or known to child protective services.”

In the consent agenda for the commissioners’ March 3, 2025 meeting, the team’s annual report for 2024 was included and accepted as requested. The report states that the existing teams met three times: Feb. 19, May 20 and Aug. 19, 2024 with an average of nine members or 50% present.

“The Child Fatality Prevention Team reviewed four child fatalities. Two fatalities involved substance use. The team discussed increasing awareness of syringe exchanges and educating about what is available for pregnancy prevention,” states the report.

“The Community Child Protection Team reviewed three cases and identified the following issues:

• “The lack of dental providers for children in Dare County, specifically for younger children or for procedures requiring any method of anesthesia.
• “There is a lack of summer childcare providers, especially those who are enrolled in the childcare subsidy program.
• “There is a lack of childcare options for parents which results in some parents making inappropriate childcare arrangements.”

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