In re Estate of Wagner, 584 Pa. 49

Summary

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that a child death review conducted by the Department of Public Welfare was an intergovernmental performance audit under the Child Protective Services Law, rather than a report subject to disclosure. The Court concluded that the audit was confidential in its entirety and could not be obtained through pre-complaint discovery by estate administrators. The court reversed the Commonwealth Court's order compelling production and relinquished jurisdiction.

Holdings

1. A child death review conducted under 23 Pa.C.S. § 6343(b) is an intergovernmental performance audit, not a report made pursuant to the Child Protective Services Law or a report concerning alleged instances of child abuse within the meaning of § 6339.
2. The estate administrators were not entitled to obtain any portion of the child death review under the subject-of-report exception in § 6340(b).
3. No portion of a child death review is available to plaintiffs as discovery.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a child death review conducted by DPW under 23 Pa.C.S. § 6343(b) is a report or other information subject to disclosure under 23 Pa.C.S. §§ 6339 and 6340.
2. Whether estate administrators may obtain any portion of a child death review through pre-complaint discovery based on their status as subjects of a report.
3. Whether the entire child death review is protected from discovery, including self-assessments, performance critiques, and information relating to the agency's handling of the case.

Disposition

reversed