LANSING – The Michigan Children's Ombudsman would have to be notified within two hours of the death of a child under HB 4125, a bill introduced today by State Representative Dudley Spade (D-Tipton). Children die each year while in state custody, but the lack of a central clearing house and lax reporting requirements result in some of those deaths going unreported, making accurate information on child deaths difficult to ascertain.
"While the death of any child is a tragedy, it is an unfortunate reality that some deaths are unpreventable and some children are going to die while in state custody just as they do in homes," Spade said. "What is inexcusable is that even one of these deaths would go unreported, or worse yet, unnoticed by the system. Without a central clearing house for information, the state is hindered in any effort to assess the number of child deaths and effectively address the circumstances surrounding them."
The legislation would require that the Department of Human Services formally notify the Michigan Children's Ombudsman upon learning about the death of a child under the care of the state.
Spade acknowledged that this bill is part of a broader effort to address the problem of child death in Michigan. "This bill is an important step, but it is only the first part of a package of legislation to address this gap. This bill will ensure both that the state is tracking all child deaths and that the Children's Ombudsman has timely and accurate information about these incidents. But we must and will take the next steps by establishing an independent oversight body to examine these incidents, creating a single source repository for this information, bringing the judiciary into the review process, and identifying and removing obstacles in the system that put our children at risk."