Reducing Unexpected Deaths in Infants and Children Act of 2016

Reducing Unexpected Deaths in Infants and Children Act of 2016

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to award grants for: (1) improving state comprehensive death scene investigations for sudden unexplained infant death (SUID) and sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC), (2) death scene investigation training specific to such deaths, (3) increasing the rate of comprehensive and standardized autopsies for such deaths, and (4) surveillance efforts on stillbirths.

The CDC must: (1) develop guidelines for a standard autopsy protocol for SUID and SUDC, (2) conduct a needs assessment for investigations and determinations of such deaths, and (3) support public education and prevention programs to reduce stillbirths and address the racial and ethnic disparities in occurrence.

The Health Resources and Services Administration must award grants for: (1) infant and child death review programs and prevention strategies; and (2) support services for families who have experienced SUID, SUDC, or stillbirth.

The Department of Health and Human Services must establish a task force to develop a national research plan to determine the causes of, and how to prevent, stillbirths.