2018 paediatric deaths with society involvement compared to other paediatric deaths in Ontario
In 2018, there were 1,092 deaths of children and youth aged 0–18 inclusive in Ontario, of which 455 (42%) of these deaths met the criteria for a coroner’s investigation. Of the paediatric deaths investigated by a coroner in 2018, 119 (26%) of them were reported to the Paediatric Death Review Committee – child welfare as a result of Society involvement with the child, youth or family within 12 months prior to the death. This is consistent with the proportion of deaths investigated in the past in this age group.
In addition to the 119 deaths reported by a society in 2018, societies also reported the deaths of seven youth outside of the typical age range of the paediatric group (aged 19–21). As these seven youth were receiving Continued Care and Support for Youth (CCSY) supports from a society at the time of their death, they were included in this analysis (total age 0–21 with Society involvement = 126). There were seven additional deaths of children and youth that were reported to the PDRC for the year 2018 but were excluded from this analysis as they did not meet the criteria for required reporting to the OCC. Two of these children did not have involvement with the society prior to their death and five of these deaths occurred outside of Ontario. Societies are not typically required to report deaths that occurred outside of Ontario to the PDRC as the OCC does not investigate deaths that occurred outside its jurisdiction. In total, 126 deaths were reviewed by the PDRC for the year 2018, 119 age 0–18 and seven age 19–21.
It should be noted that MCCSS does not collect data on the number of children and youth that receive services in the community from a Society. Instead, the number of families served by Societies is reported, so it is not possible to determine whether the rate of paediatric deaths in Ontario is the same as, or different from, the rate of paediatric deaths in the population of children and youth served by Societies.