Study details Clark County child deaths

Death took Clark County's youngest in the greatest numbers last year.

According to a newly released Clark County report on child fatalities, those who had yet to celebrate a first birthday accounted for 63 of the 148 juvenile deaths, about 43 percent, examined by the Clark County Child Death Review Team in 2006.

Natural causes related to pneumonia, premature birth or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome were major contributing factors.

Teenagers had the most to fear on the open road. Ten of the 23 children who died in motor vehicle accidents last year were between the ages of 15 and 17.

The report, touted as the first in what will become a series of annual reports, is based on data collected by the review team. The 148 reviewed cases represent about 70 percent of all Clark County child deaths last year. The 30 percent of the cases not reviewed were natural deaths, mostly related to medical causes.

"What we're trying to do with this analysis is get in front of the issues," said Denise Tanata Ashby, executive director of the Nevada Institute for Children's Research and Policy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Ashby is one of authors of the report.

"The county is putting a lot of focus on revamping child death review and making it more prevention-oriented," Ashby said.

The 2006 report is Clark County's first effort at tracking and identifying trends in juvenile deaths. The reading is grim, but people should take the time to become familiar with it, said Assistant Clark County Manager Darryl Martin.

"These are our children," Martin said. "This is a reflection of our community. In order for us to better understand these issues, we have to know what factors are involved."

Facets of the report were revelatory for Martin, who was stunned that black infants accounted for 57 percent of local SIDS deaths in 2006. Blacks make up 9 percent of Clark County's overall population.

"We don't know what's behind that," Ashby said. "There are a disproportionately large number of black children in that category. I couldn't tell you why. We don't know if it's a fluke or what the contributing factors are."

SIDS is the unexplained sudden death of a child under one year of age.

For the cause of death to be deemed SIDS, an autopsy must be performed, the death scene has to be investigated and the baby's health history reviewed. Seven deaths were attributed to SIDS in Clark County last year. All of the children died while alone in a sleeping environment, such as a crib or playpen. Overall, the report found that the number of SIDS deaths in Clark County was relatively low.

Martin said the findings might prompt some kind of public education campaign aimed at black parents.

Being responsible while behind the wheel of a motor vehicle also emerged as an issue for teenagers in the report. Alcohol or drug impairment was the primary cause in accidents that claimed three juvenile lives. Recklessness or traveling at unsafe speeds were primary factors in accidents causing four juvenile deaths.

"Prevention efforts should focus on working with parents, young drivers and possibly insurance companies to provide incentives for participation in driver education/safety courses and implement stiff penalties for young drivers that are driving while impaired," the report said.

Of the causes of child deaths, drownings were found to be among the most preventable.

Nine child drownings occurred in Clark County last year, and Ashby said that nearly all involved the lack of two key prevention measures: an appropriate barrier around the pool and adult supervision. The majority of the drownings occurred in older parts of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas.

"This fact suggests that the drownings may be occurring in pools that may not be up to current county safety codes," the report said. "However, only one-third of cases are taking place at the child's home -- nearly half are occurring at a friend or relative's home."

Most of the drowning victims were ages 4 and under. Because a child can drown in minutes, Ashby said, it's vital to have constant adult supervision when children are in the pool.

The report also found that 20 child deaths were the result of homicides and that nine deaths were suicides.

In the case of homicide, the victim was most likely to be a black or Hispanic male between the ages of 15 and 17. About 55 percent of the homicides were committed with a firearm, a finding consistent with national child death review statistics that find juvenile homicides occur most frequently in neighborhoods with high rates of poverty, social isolation, gang problems and family violence.

"Clark County's data supports these factors, particularly the substance abuse history, gang involvement and school failure," the county report found.

Hanging was the most common form of teen suicide in Clark County, followed by use of a gun. That is the reverse of national data that show firearms as the most common method of suicide used by teens, the report said. Of the nine juvenile suicides that occurred locally last year, four involved Hispanic youngsters.

Identifying the risk factors of suicide in an individual is the key to preventing a tragedy, Ashby said.

"More than half of all youth who committed suicide in 2006 had made a prior suicide attempt," the report said.

Part of the push for more details on child fatalities in Clark County sprang from the increasing scrutiny of local child welfare services, which were criticized last year for failing to investigate suspicious child deaths that might have been related to abuse or neglect.

According to the report, in 17 cases of child death, there was an open Child Protective Services case. In 10 of the 148 cases, the child had been in foster care at some point. In 34 cases, the family had some involvement with child protective services.

But the report said the numbers might not accurately represent the cases reviewed because strict definitions of what constitutes neglect were not used while gathering data.

Ashby said that is a problem that will be resolved in future reports.

"We do want to collect more detail on child welfare issues," Ashby said. "It's one of several areas where we want to step up data collection."