Naked City

On April 20, the Travis Co. Child Fatality Review Team released its annual report for 2003. This is the eighth such report, designed to provide the community with information reflecting the patterns and trends affecting the safety of children in Travis County.

A total of 140 children (17 or younger) died in Travis Co. in 2003, 75% from "natural causes," an 8% increase over the previous year. The average annual total of child fatalities (since reporting began in 1996) is 124. The racial/ethnic makeup of the children who died in 2003 was 25% African-American (who constitute only 12% of the county's child population), 45% Hispanic (41% of the child population), 26% Caucasian (43%), and 4% Asian (4%). As in previous years, African-American children continue to be at far greater risk in all categories, whether from natural or accidental causes, although socioeconomic standing may be a more precise predictor of risk factor than race.

There were three cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in 2003, down from eight the previous year. Twenty-two children died of accidental causes (down from 24). Of these, 10 involved motor vehicle accidents (down from 11), but eight of the 10 were teenagers, compared to four of 11 the year before. Only three of last year's 10 MVA deaths were unrestrained or unprotected (not wearing a helmet), a significant improvement from nine of 11 the previous year. Four of the 10 MVA child fatalities were African-American, five were Hispanic, and only one was Caucasian – further evidence of the disproportion of racial and ethnic groups in these statistics.

Five children died from asphyxiation, four due to suffocation by overlay or wedging. Within a single week last June, two children died of hyperthermia in a hot automobile – the first reported "hot car" fatalities in the county in the past eight years.

There were five child homicides, four the result of child abuse – in 2002 there were only three such homicides, none associated with abuse. There was only one child suicide last year, but if all teens are counted (including 18-19 year olds), there were five total suicides, the same number as in the previous year. For more details, see www.centerforchildprotection.org.