Mission Statement
For over 35 years the Center for Infant and Child Loss has honored the commitment of assuring thatMarylandfamilies facing the sudden and unexpected loss of their infant or child (0 to 16 years of age) have access to bereavement intervention, counseling, and information based on best practices and current research. These services are provided to families at no cost. The Center is dedicated to the education and training of persons working in health and child care, emergency response, law enforcement, and community services to promote awareness and knowledge of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), other sudden infant/child deaths, and practices to reduce the risk of those deaths.
The Center has 5 key goals highlighted to assure the mission and vision is carried out with consistency and integrity. Those goals are as follows:
Goal I: Provide bereaved families access to intervention, counseling and information.
Goal II: Facilitate parent support and peer outreach.
Goal III: Collect, analyze, and distribute timely and accurate data for SIDS as well as other sudden/unexpected child deaths.
Goal IV: Educate health providers, public safety officials and other public-at-large about SIDS, infant and child death, risk reduction, grief, and compassionate intervention/ interviewing.
Goal V: Facilitate research on SIDS and other child death related issues.
Description
The Center for Infant & Child Loss, formerly the Maryland Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Information and Counseling Program, was established in 1975 by the State of Maryland to comply with the mandates of the SIDS act of 1974. The Center is a program within the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, working in partnership with UMMS and Division of Neonatology and funded, in part, by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), Center for Maternal and Child Health.
The Center receives a grant from DHMH that funds approximately 35% to 40% of the annual operating budget. The fundraising efforts and donations received cover 60% to 65% of the annual operating budget. The Center’s premier golf event covers roughly 1/3 of the Center’s operating budget annually.
The Center is a Maryland statewide program designed to be family oriented and community based, and to assure a compassionate response in the sudden and unexpected death of an infant or child. The purpose of the Center is to assist families to learn to live with the loss of their child and have hope for the future.
