Presenter Profile

DeShanta Richardson

Project Coordinator, Child Abuse Death Review Unit
Florida Department of Health, Division of Children’s Medical Services
Deshanta.Richardson@flhealth.gov
www.FLCADR.com

DeShanta Richardson is a dedicated leader committed to safeguarding children in Florida. As the Project Coordinator for the Florida Department of Health's Child Abuse Death Review (CADR), she spearheads statewide initiatives to prevent child abuse and fatalities. DeShanta began her Florida Department of Health (FDOH) career in 2022 as an Administrative Assistant in the Communal Diseases division, transferred to Children's Medical Services in March 2023, and was promoted to Project Coordinator in September 2023. A proud alumna of Florida State University with a BA in English and a minor in sociology, she quickly mastered Ariba on Demand and purchasing policies, demonstrating her adaptability. DeShanta facilitates educational meetings with state and local teams and develops initiatives to prevent child abuse and deaths. Married with three children, she balances her professional and personal life with grace, embodying resilience, and dedication. Her commitment drives positive change, making her an invaluable asset to the FDOH and the community.

Presentations

Utilizing Child Abuse Death Review (CADR) Data to Implement Statewide Prevention Initiatives

Brenna Radigan
Symone Ferguson
DeShanta Richardson

Part of session:
Lightning Round Presentations
Friday Lightning Round
Friday, December 6, 2024, 1:00 PM to 1:40 PM
Background:

The Florida CADR System is charged with conducting case reviews on all incidents of child deaths investigated by the Florida Department of Children and Families with the purpose of achieving a greater understanding of the factors contributing to preventable child death and to address these factors through the development of effective prevention efforts. The CADR System utilized data to inform the development of prevention initiatives to specifically address the primary factors contributing to the leading causes of preventable child death as demonstrated through the CADR case review process including, sleep-related infant death, drowning, and inflicted trauma.

Methods:

Through the CADR case review process, an examination of at least 688 child death incidents occurring in 2019-2021, demonstrated sleep-related infant death and drowning as the two leading causes of preventable child death of cases examined by the Florida CADR System. Data analysis of surrounding circumstances of sleep-related infant death and drowning highlight contributing factors which is utilized to inform the development of effective prevention efforts.

Results:

CADR data demonstrates the majority of sleep-related infant deaths in Florida are among infants 1-4 months of age, most frequently occurring in an unsafe sleep environment such as an adult bed, and the infant is most often found on their stomach when discovered unresponsive. Additionally, CADR data demonstrates that the majority of child drowning deaths occur in children 1-4 years of age and occur during non-swim time activities or when the child was not expected to be in or near the water. These critical factors along with other data derived from the CADR system were used in the design, development, and implementation of two data-informed prevention initiatives: Sleep Baby Safely and Keep Kids Safe From Drowning. Further examination of CADR data indicates geographical areas of the state with higher-than-state-average occurrence of sleep-related infant death and child drowning, allowing the CADR system to focus efforts in critical areas of the state to make the greatest initial impact, with an overarching goal of implementing the developed prevention efforts statewide.

Conclusions:

In 2019, the CADR System implemented Sleep Baby Safely in Duval County, Florida as a pilot project. The examination of needed resources, support, and demonstrated outcomes of this pilot project promoted the expansion of Sleep Baby Safely to include eight additional counites in the state with higher-than-state-average incidents of sleep-related infant death. In 2022, the Florida legislature approved funds to support the expansion of this project as well as the Keep Kids Safe From Drowning prevention effort by allocating $2.8 million to these efforts. Both prevention initiatives have been implemented through the coordinated efforts of Local CADR Committee members and stakeholders, with continued examination of data collected through the CADR case review process for further evaluation of efficacy and to further support prevention initiative efforts.

Objectives:

1. Attendees of this presentation will outline methods utilized in the development of data-informed prevention initiatives, Sleep Baby Safely and Keep Kids Safe From Drowning.
2. Attendees will be able to demonstrate how data-informed prevention initiatives can address primary factors contributing to preventable child death and identify available and/or needed data sources.
3. This presentation will encourage attendees to examine existing data-informed prevention initiatives and evaluate gaps which may be addressed through further prevention initiative development.