Pennsylvania Child Death Review Program Gets Fraction of Funding

The Pennsylvania Department of Health received $242,000 in the state budget for the Child Death Review program, far less than the $2.5 million Governor Josh Shapiro had proposed. The program, mandated to have county boards examine every death of a person under 21, has seen only about half of cases reviewed since 2020, and county officials say they are overwhelmed by the workload.

State officials said the modest allocation will allow the department to explore additional staff and increase capacity for data collection and analysis. Advocates, including Cathleen Palm of the Center for Children’s Justice, called the amount “an insulting number” and warned that without sufficient state infrastructure, local teams cannot effectively prevent child deaths.