The Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities (CECANF) will be in Salt Lake City Tuesday through Wednesday to hear testimony in its continued effort to end the deaths of children resulting from abuse and neglect.
David Sanders is the chairman for the commission and said Utah is the ninth state they’ve visited.
"Utah has a very low rate of fatalities due to abuse and neglect," Sanders said. "So we wanted to visit Utah to understand what kinds of innovations they might have tried that the rest of the country can learn from."
David Rubin is a pediatrician and White House appointee for the commission. He said a lot can be learned from Utah.
"Utah has led the nation in inserting its public health nurses into it’s child welfare system," Rubin said "To really take a more broader public health perspective on how to support families and children and I believe that’s paid some good dividends for them."
Sanders said the majority of fatalities nationwide result from accidents that were preventable, such as pools that weren’t fenced in or infants whose parents rolled over on them while sleeping.
He said their findings indicate infants are at the highest risk.
"We think it’s going to be critical in our report," Sanders said. "For communities to look at children under age one who have either been reported to the child protection agency, or somebody in the community has concern about, because they seem to be particularly vulnerable."
Both Sanders and Rubin said there is a common thread in states with low fatalities that include strong leadership and community support, but said more work is still needed to protect children and support families at risk.