By WPRO News

State agencies are making new efforts to keep children safe with what they’re calling a “data driven” approach.

The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF); the Department of Health (DOH); and the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) met at a “Children’s Cabinet” meeting on Monday to discuss techniques and data.

New efforts, set for implementation in October, include developing additional risk screening tiers for newborns at birth to identify families that may need support or follow up home visits, strengthening engagement with pregnant mothers, improving child referral criteria and processes, and making data sharing between agencies more timely and efficient.

Data showed there were 8 fatalities and 23 near fatalities between 2016 and 2017. House Oversight Committee Chair Patricia Serpa said she was pleased to hear of the state’s new plans, but will be watching closely.

“I promise you the Oversight Committee will stay on top of this. This has to happen. We can’t have any more dead babies in this state,” she told reporters after the meeting.