When a child is taken from us too early, for any reason- the community mourns. We look for an answer because we feel vulnerable. How could this have happened? Many in our community are asking this very question right now. There are school counselors, teachers, social workers, medical providers, friends, and family that nurture children every day and we want to acknowledge those efforts that mean so much for all of our children. However, child abuse and neglect is a complicated and nuanced issue where we must balance safety with long term outcomes for children. Where we are trying hard to protect children with the information and tools that we have been given to do so. And, it takes many players to make a team that creates a safety net for those that cannot protect themselves- from the individuals around a child, the systems that are tasked with caring for children, and the legislative actions taken to make laws and provide resources to do so. …show more content…
As required by N.C. Statute, there is a Community Child Protection Team (CCPT) in every county that reviews every child fatality that occurs within the 100 counties in N.C. CCPT serves as quality control for the efforts underway to keep children safe. The group is made up of anchor institutions and child serving agencies with subject matter experts from diverse professional backgrounds. As they review fatalities and active child welfare cases, their insights and suggestions are used to identify trends and improve practices that create more safety for children They ask questions like: Could we be doing more? Could we have caught this sooner? Where are the gaps and how can we come together to fix