WHEREAS, the child death rate in Idaho exceeds that of the nation; and

       WHEREAS, some child deaths are due to preventable causes; and

       WHEREAS, records of children's deaths and circumstances leading to their deaths are kept by multiple agencies but no coordinated, ongoing effort is being made to evaluate these records; and

      WHEREAS, expertise exists within the state to evaluate these records and identify circumstances leading to or contributing to the deaths of children; and

      WHEREAS, the identification of risk-producing circumstances and recommendations to remediate them may reduce child death rates;

      NOW THEREFORE, I, DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Governor of the State of Idaho, by virtue of the authority vested in me under the Constitution and laws of the State of Idaho, do hereby establish the Child Mortality Review Committee.

     The duties of the Committee shall include reviewing data on selected cases of child death due to leading preventable causes. An annual report summarizing the data and with the Committee's finding shall be presented to the Governor's Coordinating Council for Families and Children.

     The members of the Committee shall be appointed by the Director of the Department of Health and Welfare. The terms of appointment, chairmanship, and other operating guidelines shall be established by the Committee in bylaws. Membership shall include:

- a pediatrician,
- an emergency medicine physician,
- a pathologist,
- a coroner,
- a prosecutor,
- a law enforcement representative,
- a Children At Risk Task Force member,
- a representative from the Department of Health and Welfare, Children and Family Services,
- the state epidemiologist, and
- a representative of the public.

This Executive Order shall cease to be effective four years after its entry into force.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the State of Idaho at the Capitol in Boise on this second day of April in the year of our Lord two thousand and two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred twenty-fifth and of the Statehood of Idaho the one hundred eleventh.

PETE T. CENARRUSA
SECRETARY OF STATE