Fatality Reviews

Up to 80% of children killed in their homes were already known to authorities who failed to protect them. The death of a child already on the radar of child protective services is a preventable failure. Our reforms require independent, transparent reviews of every child fatality and near-fatality to identify system failures and strengthen safety.

Key Points

Neglect is fatal: 3 out of 4 child maltreatment fatalities are identified as victims of “neglect.”

A Deadly Trend: Child fatality rates have surged 30% since 2010

The Ultimate Failure: Up to 80% of children killed by their caretakers were known to authorities.

Events & Testimonies

  • Testimony: Support Senate Bill 1235

    Senate Bill 1235 creates the Child Safety Fatality and Near Fatality Review Team, empaneled with Department of Child Safety staff and external, independent reviewers. The bill also grants power to [...]

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Op-Eds

  • Every 12 minutes, a child goes missing. One bill can make all the difference

    At 13, Alicia Kozakiewicz snuck out of her house to meet a “friend” she’d met online. He wasn’t a friend. He abducted her, chained her in a basement, and tortured her. Alicia’s family, neighbors, and the FBI turned the world upside down to find her, and within days, she was pulled out of that basement alive. Anaiah Walker’s story [...]

  • Child welfare advocates tell Arizona’s Family that DCS needs to do more to keep kids safe

    State lawmakers promised transparency and accountability when they created the Department of Child Safety, or DCS. But has it lived up to those promises?

  • Child fatalities: We deserve an answer

    Arizona Senate Bill 1252, championed by Sen. Janae Shamp, R-Surprise, recognizes deaths of children are preventable, and we desperately need to chart a path toward change...

Research & Reports

  • When Parental Substance Use Endangers Children: Defining Imminent Risk for Child Protection Systems

    The federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act provides a minimum definition of child maltreatment that includes imminent risk of serious harm. Yet, in practice, many state and county child [...]

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  • Disappearing and Dying

    Why 20,000 kids disappear from foster care every year and how to end this crisis. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Anaiah Walker was 15 when she went missing from Arizona’s foster care system [...]

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Resources & Tools

Podcasts & Audio

Model Reforms