The Office of Child Protection Ombudsman has launched an independent process for reviewing child deaths caused by abuse and neglect, adding to the state’s existing process, the office announced Thursday.

This new review process aims to fill gaps in the state’s process through a multidisciplinary approach and increasing engagement with families and the general public, officials said. After each review, recommendations will be submitted to state agencies on how to prevent such tragedies.

“Despite existing processes, our communities still can’t answer why so many children continue to die from abuse and neglect in Colorado,” Stephanie Villafuerte with the Office of Child Protection Ombudsman said in a release.

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“We’re intent on using the authority and independence of our office and this new program to ensure that all agencies that touch a child’s life have the opportunity to learn how their systems are serving Colorado’s children and, in some circumstances, how those systems may be improved.”

The office’s first independent review will be of the death of 12-year-old Timothy Montoya-Kloepfel from Colorado Springs. 

In June 2020, Montoya-Kloepfel ran away from the Tennyson Center for Children in Denver and was fatally hit by a car shortly after, police said.

Before his death, Montoya-Kloepfel had frequently been involved in Colorado’s behavioral health systems. He had autism and suffered from severe depression.

“Regretfully, state law does not currently require the public receive information regarding system failures in his case,” the office said in a statement. “The (office) believes that a study of his life and death will reveal ways behavioral health systems may be improved.”

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A report on Montoya-Kloepfel’s death is expected to be released later this year, officials said.

Under Colorado’s review process for child deaths, 39% of reviews do not result in public reports or recommendations, according to the office. The state also does not provide full access to findings for families or stakeholders and does not include previous service providers/agencies that served the child in the review.  

This new independent review process was made possible by the passage of House Bill 21-1272 in June, which authorized the Office of Child Protection Ombudsman to receive information, records and documents related to incidents of egregious abuse, neglect, near fatality or fatality of a child.

The majority of child protection ombudsman offices in the U.S. already implement similar independent review processes, according to the office.