The purpose of this Local Commissioners Memorandum (LCM) is to provide guidance to Child Protective Services (CPS) staff regarding factors to consider and evaluate when investigating a report of a death, or serious injury, of an infant that may have been caused by or related to unsafe sleeping conditions. The LCM addresses steps to be taken in these investigations, information that should be obtained and considered, and evaluation of that information in determining whether to indicate a report.Although this LCM addresses investigations in which a death or injury has occurred, much of the information in it can also provide guidance to CPS staff in assessing circumstances of safety and risk or "imminent danger" to infants created by possibly unsafe sleeping conditions.
The information in this LCM generally applies only to sleep-related injuries or deaths of infants, who are uniquely susceptible to sleep-related risks ,but it could also apply to some older children who have developmental delays or medical conditions that make them susceptible to death or injury caused by the same sleep conditions that can put infants at risk.
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