Author: Will Humble

Back in the mid 1990’s the AZ State Legislature set up the Arizona Child Fatality Review Program to evaluate every child death and provide evidence-based policy recommendations to prevent child deaths.

Over the years many policy and operational interventions came out of these reports, from safe sleep to new seat belt laws for kids. The goal of each year’s report is to conduct a comprehensive review of all child deaths and make policy recommendations to prevent as many as possible.

The report 2 years ago found that firearm deaths increased 41% over the previous year, while child death rates were 250% higher than the national average (likely due to the lack of mitigation measures implemented by the previous administration).

View this Year’s Child Fatality Review Report

The Arizona Child Fatality Review Program’s goal is to reduce child deaths in Arizona by conducting a comprehensive review of all child deaths to figure out what steps could have been taken, if any, to prevent each child’s death.

• Among children aged 1-4 years, drowning was the leading cause of death.
• Among children aged 5-9 years and 10-14 years, motor vehicle crash was the leading cause of death.
• Among children 15-17 years, firearm injury was the leading cause of death.

Preventable Deaths

The review teams carefully look at each death to decide whether each was preventable (some deaths – like congenital anomalies may not be preventable). The leading causes of Preventable Deaths among all kids 0-17 are as follows:

• Motor Vehicle Crashes (81) 20%
• Firearm Injury (68) 16%
• Suffocation (52) 13%
• Poisoning (34) 8%
• Drowning (31) 7%

Report recommendations include:

• Safe Sleep Environments: Continue to educate parents on safe sleeping environments.
• Prevent gun deaths: “Remove firearms in households with children; and incentivize proper firearm storage of guns by making gun owners legally civilly & criminally responsible for improper firearm storage.”
• Prevent vehicle deaths: Require children younger than 13 to be in the rear seats of vehicles; Promote child safety seats; Increase awareness of the risks associated with driving under the influence; and ensure helmets are worn when needed.
• Prevent prematurity: Policies to encourage pregnant women to avoid using substances such as drugs or alcohol during pregnancy; Increasing the availability of affordable health insurance; Awareness of AHCCCS coverage up to one year postpartum; and increasing availability of home visiting programs.
• Support healthy families: Expand of the DCS Workforce Resilience Experiences and home visiting programs; Increase awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences and increasing awareness; and Support for the All-Babies Cry Program.

2024 Focus: Firearm Deaths

This year’s Report sheds light on a grim reality: firearm-related deaths among children have surged by 171% over the past decade.

In 2023 68 children lost their lives to firearm injuries—all preventable. Of these deaths, 44% were suicides, and 40 out of 61 homicides were firearm related.

From the Report:

“CFRP believes that the most effective way to prevent firearm-related deaths in children is to remove all firearms in households with children because the presence of firearms in a household increases the risk of suicide among adolescents.”

“Parents of all adolescents should remove all guns from their homes, especially if there is a history of mental health issues or substance use issues.”

“In addition, CFRP recommends that all gun owners should practice safe storage of their firearms by keeping guns unloaded and locked in a safe separate from the ammunition.”

The report highlights the pressing need for policies to protect children from firearm-related harm.

Added recommendations include:

• Mandating mental health screening and gun safety training before firearm purchases.
• Enacting Child Access Prevention laws to ensure safe firearm storage.
• Licensing and tracking firearm ownership.
• Promoting public awareness of the importance of reporting stolen firearms and implementing penalties for non-compliance.

The recommendations in this year’s report can be implemented in various ways. Some, like passing Child Firearm Access Prevention laws require legislative action, while others can be implemented by AHCCCS, ADHS, ADES and DCS without added statutory authority.

For more insights, view the full 2024 report here.

Firearm Violence in Arizona: Data to Support Prevention Policies