 |
|
BURNABY – The Child Death Review Unit (CDRU) of the BC Coroners Service welcomes Theresa Covington, Director of the National Center for Child Death Review (National Center) to British Columbia; it is the first time she has met in North America with a dedicated child death review unit.
Ms. Covington will be in B.C. to meet with CDRU staff to discuss best practices for child death review in North America, to share information on how the National Center organizes and reports data, and to participate in case reviews to see first hand how the child death review protocol is applied to cases.
“We’re very excited that Teri accepted our invitation,” said Director, Child Death Review Unit, Kellie Kilpatrick. “She is renowned in the field of child death review and this is a great opportunity to learn and exchange ideas that will enhance how we approach our work at CDRU and will ultimately benefit children in B.C. through improved prevention and outreach efforts.”
The National Center has created a demonstration site so that the CDRU may test data base and reporting capabilities with non-identifying CDRU data. Ms. Covington will demonstrate this site during her visit. The CDRU is the first Canadian jurisdiction that has been provided a demonstration site by the National Center. This partnership will allow the CDRU and the National Center the opportunity to test the viability of sharing non-identifying data on an international cross-jurisdictional scale.
As part of her Vancouver visit, Ms. Covington will also be meeting with other provincial bodies who have shared responsibilities to review or investigate child deaths.
Ms. Covington is the Senior Program Director for the Child and Adolescent Health Programs at the Michigan Public Health Institute. She has over twenty-five years experience in the planning, funding, administration and evaluation of innovative community-based health and human service programs, especially in the areas of maternal and child health and injury prevention. She is leading efforts in the United States to standardize child death review protocols, and implement the new U.S. Child Death Review Case Reporting System. She is also working with a number of federal agencies and national organizations to translate child death review findings into national policy and practice in the areas of child protection, safety and health.
The Child Death Review Unit of the BC Coroners Service is committed to a comprehensive review of all child deaths to better understand how and why children die, and to use those findings to take action to prevent other deaths and improve the health, safety and well being of all children in British Columbia.
-30-
|
contact: |
Office of the Chief Coroner 604 660-7752 |
|
|
|
||
|
For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
||
