Council Supports Plan To Reduce African American Baby Deaths

The City and County of Sacramento are teaming up in an effort to reduce the mortality rate for African American babies.

A special task force created by the county has released a plan called African American Children Matter. It calls on the community to work to reduce the number of abuse and neglect deaths by a-quarter and the number of third-party homicide deaths by half.

Tuesday night, the Sacramento City Council unanimously approved a resolution supporting the goals of the task force. Jeanette Kimmons-Flowers urged the Sacramento City Council to make the issue a priority.

"Cuz, if it was one of yours, or your grandchildren, I guarantee you, you would raise hell. So do the same for other people's children," she said.

 A 2011 report showed black children died at twice the rate of other races in the county over a 20-year period.

Councilman Rick Jennings says the goals set in the report can be reached and should be exceeded.

"If anything, I don't think they're aggressive enough, only because I think if we really, truly want to stop the number of deaths that we're seeing with this population, we have to do even more," he said.

The report identifies six Sacramento areas where community outreach should begin: Arden-Arcade, Del Paso Heights, Fruitridge, North Highlands, Oak Park, and Valley Hi.