​Instructors: Trish Fore     
Course length: 16 hours (2 days)

Child Death Investigations

Because communication is key to any death investigation, this training has a focus on interdisciplinary approaches and collaboration. Professionals from a variety of agencies are encouraged to attend.

“Interdisciplinary Approach: Because every death matters.”
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With every state in the country now having some type of child fatality review system in place, the process by which child death cases are handled and investigated is under immense scrutiny. Every agency having a role in a child death investigation must be prepared to have their involvement analyzed from beginning to end.

Communication is the number one reason agencies identify as a system issue in many investigations. Unfortunately it is an issue that can permeate and wreak havoc at any stage of an investigation.

This program addresses child deaths from an interdisciplinary perspective. This approach provides all agencies the necessary information to not only investigate and gather information, but to understand and appreciate the details and collaboration required in order to make a final determination of cause and manner of death.

Course Topics:​​
  • Manners of death - Natural, Accidental, Suicide, Homicide, Undetermined. We will explore each and the methods pathologists employ to reach their determinations.
  • Mechanisms of death - The pathological aspects of cause of death. We will discuss interpretation of injuries, and the lack of injuries. What do the pathologists look for with their various tests and analyses? What does asphyxiation look like, or can you tell?
  • What is SIDS anyway?  We will do an in depth analysis of this subjective and often misapplied diagnosis.
  • Why are infants so complicated? Regardless of circumstances, infant death cases have many associated issues that must be addressed during the investigative process.
  • Scene investigations - What makes a child death scene different?
  • Court issues - Now that we are here, what is going to happen?
  • Reconstructions - A must of any infant death, reconstructions are a valuable tool regardless of the age of the decedent. We will do re-enactments and cover exactly how to do a complete infant/child death scene reconstruction.
  • Interviewing families - Talking to families and gathering information from them can be difficult and unnerving in highly emotional situations. We will address specific strategies for obtaining maximal information from families. 

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Case Studies:​
Actual cases will be covered, from the initial 911 call through to the final determinations of cause and manner of death.  At each step of the investigative process, we will examine what was done correctly, what was missed and why, why some details are more important than others, and critical communication times.  These exercises help participants truly grasp the importance of how even the smallest details can have a significant effect on the outcome of a case.
Trish Fore, D-ABMDI
Trish Fore is a 1994 West Virginia University (WVU) graduate. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development and Family Studies while on a full scholarship with the WVU Women’s Basketball team. Upon graduation, Ms. Fore began her career in child advocacy as a Child Protective Services (CPS) worker in West Virginia. Starting out investigating child abuse and neglect allegations, Ms. Fore’s experience and education allowed her a smooth transition into the position of Investigative Supervisor.

In 2011, Ms. Fore was made Director of the West Virginia Fatality Review program where she coordinated and reviewed domestic violence and all preventable child deaths. Ms. Fore organized multidisciplinary reviews to identify case trends, patterns, and risk factors. 

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