Report: Accidental child deaths declining

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Accidental deaths among Connecticut youth have decreased in recent years, suggesting prevention programs may be helping save children's lives and deserve continuing support from lawmakers and policy planners, the state's child advocate says.

Jeanne Milstein, whose office monitors child welfare efforts in Connecticut, told participants at a Commission on Children panel discussion Tuesday that her office's preliminary review found accidental deaths were a smaller percentage of all children's deaths last year than they were 10 years ago.

Drowning, falls, car crashes and other accidental deaths were the second highest cause of death for Connecticut's youth between 2001 and 2010, she said, but had dropped from 31 percent in 2001 to about 20 percent in 2010. The total number of accidental deaths for those years wasn't immediately available.

Graduated license restrictions for new drivers, increased education about the importance of helmets and other programs are likely helping drive down those numbers, Milstein said.

"We can see the decrease and I know it's because of the prevention activities," said Milstein, whose office expects to complete and distribute the full report in a few months.

Milstein was among several children's welfare experts, state agency administrators, lawmakers and others who spoke at Tuesday's commission panel about legislative and policy priorities for the coming year. Their topics ranged from early literacy efforts to childhood mental health, obesity, bullying and the recession's effect on families.

Illnesses, premature births and other medical factors were the leading cause of Connecticut children's deaths between 2001 and 2010, Milstein said.

Youth suicide, while accounting for less than 10 percent of children's fatalities between 2001 and 2010, still accounted for 77 deaths — and some were as young as 10 years old, Milstein said. Many had been bullied, with their real or perceived sexual orientation being one of the factors over which they were targeted, she said.

Connecticut state Sen. Beth Bye, a West Hartford Democrat who is gay, said she has also heard a great deal recently from, and about, teens being bullied because of their sexual orientation or gender expression.

She and others at Tuesday's forum said one priority in the coming year should be working more closely with schools, teachers and others to focus on prevention in that area, especially since Connecticut enacted a major anti-bullying bill in last spring's session and the issue has generated significant discussion nationwide.

"It's something there's been a lot of work on in our school systems and communities, the recognition that it's a real hazard for students," Bye said of the threat of being bullied over gender expression and sexual orientation. "I think people are afraid to talk about it, to help schools and communities feel comfortable bringing it up."

Tuesday's panel also included discussions about Connecticut's efforts to boost preschool offerings for its poor children, who often need the help the most and whose families can least afford it. The state is awaiting word next month on whether it has won up to $50 million in federal grants for the hoped-for preschool expansion.

The participants also discussed the need to examine more closely why Connecticut's infant mortality rate is not lower: It ranks 22nd nationwide, with a particularly high rate of infant deaths in the city of New Haven. Washington state had the lowest infant mortality rate last year, according to federal figures; it was highest in Washington, D.C.

Jewel Mullen, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, said that issue and others — including childhood obesity, children's vulnerability when living amid domestic violence and teen binge drinking — also deserve attention.