Incapacitated and Vulnerable Adult Fatality Review Committee (IVAFRC)

The Committee was established to study the incidence and causes of deaths of incapacitated adults and to recommend policies, practices, and services that will promote collaboration among the various public and private agencies and organizations that serve and advocate for New Hampshire's elderly and incapacitated adults. Through a systemic multidisciplinary review of incapacitated adult fatalities, the Committee develops recommendations for changes in law, policy and practice in order to prevent and reduce incapacitated adult fatalities.

The Committee, which is administratively attached to the Department of Justice, exemplifies New Hampshire's strong tradition of multi-disciplinary cooperation and its commitment to improving the State's ability to protect its most vulnerable citizens. The attorney general appoints members to the committee from the health care field, organizations with expertise in services provided to incapacitated adults, law enforcement, organizations or individuals who advocate for or provide legal representation to incapacitated adults, and other members as the attorney general determines will assist the Committee in fulfilling its objectives. Committee members serve at the pleasure of the attorney general for three-year terms.

The Committee recognizes that a careful examination of certain fatalities provides the opportunity to develop education, prevention, service delivery, management, quality assurance strategies and, if necessary, prosecution strategies that will lead to improved coordination of services for elderly and incapacitated adults and their families.