INDIANAPOLIS—Today, the Senate Child and Family Services Committee passed HB 1247. The bill would require the statewide child fatality review to include additional details on child fatalities, such as whether the child was in residential care or on a trial home visit. Ranking Minority Member Senator J.D Ford (D-Indianapolis) is a sponsor of the bill and offered the following statement:

“I am pleased that the Child and Family Services Committee passed HB 1247, a crucial piece of legislation that will help us better protect vulnerable children in Indiana. I filed a similar companion bill to this legislation with SB 64 earlier this session after hearing the case of Judah Morgan from Laporte County, who was killed just months after being reunited with his parents in 2021. Every child fatality in Indiana is one too many. We need to do more to protect vulnerable children in our state and this legislation is an important step towards doing that.”