Welcome to the State Child Abuse Death Review (CADR) Committee Website

We are pleased that you are interested in the vital work that is undertaken by this multi-disciplinary Team. As Chairman of the State Committee, I welcome your interest in our work. As you move around our website, you will find our guidelines, forms, annual reports, and a roster of State Team members and local Chairpersons posted for your convenience. Since 1999, we have been working diligently with a multitude of partners to make every effort to reduce child abuse deaths in Florida. In 2004, the Florida Legislature expanded our duties to include the review of all verified child abuse deaths in our State. We believe that with a better understanding of contributing factors and systemic response to child abuse cases, that we can work together to better protect our precious charges, Florida’s children. We hope that you will find our website useful and informative. Thank you for visiting and if you have any questions or comments, please let us know.

Sincerely,

Special Agent Terry Thomas
Chairperson – State Child Abuse Death Review Committee
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
2331 Phillips Road
Tallahassee, FL 32308
Office: (850) 410-8369
Fax: (850) 410-8599
E-mail: terrythomas@fdle.state.fl.us

Established by statute in 1999 (F.S. Chapter 383.402 ), the program is housed in the Department of Heath and authorizes state-wide and locally developed multi-disciplinary committees to conduct detailed reviews of the facts and circumstances surrounding child abuse and neglect deaths in which a verified report of abuse or neglect was accepted by the Florida Abuse Hotline within the Department of Children and Family Services.

Purpose of Child Death Reviews

	Develop a community based approach to address child abuse deaths and contributing factors.
	Achieve a greater understanding of the causes and contributing factors of deaths resulting from child abuse or neglect.
	Identify gaps, deficiencies or problems in service delivery to children and families by public and private agencies that may be related to child abuse deaths.
	Develop and implement data-driven recommendations for reducing child abuse and neglect deaths.