Help ensure that forensic professionals have the resources they need to continue providing timely, high-quality investigations and services. 

Each year, families across the U.S. experience the sudden, unexpected, and unexplained death of their child—a tragedy without answers, without clarity, and without closure.

The SUDC Foundation stands with the National Association of Medical Examiners to call on Congress to restore full funding to the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant Program, which faces a proposed 70% cut in FY2026.

These grants are the only dedicated federal funding source for forensic science, including medical examiner and coroner offices—critical partners in the investigation of Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC), a category of death for a child 12 months of age or older that remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including the performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and clinical history review.

Why It Matters:

Without adequate funding, death investigations will be delayed or compromised, further straining an already overburdened forensic system. A cut of this magnitude could:

• Delay or hinder autopsies and forensic testing in SUDC cases
• Worsen national backlogs in all forensic investigations
• Compromise the quality of data and hinder research into child deaths
• Undermine the ability of states to investigate deaths and identify public health risks
• Families may be left without the answers they desperately need

In fact, a 2019 report to Congress from the National Institute of Justice found an annual $640 million deficit for essential forensic services—and that was before the added burden of the opioid crisis. Backlogs in forensic pathology increased 139% between 2017 and 2023. Post-mortem toxicology turnaround times surged 246%.

                                  We cannot afford to go backward.

What We're Asking:

We are calling on Congress to restore full funding to the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grant Program at $50 million in FY26—not the proposed $10 million. This critical investment supports state and local units of government to help improve forensic science and medical examiner/coroner services representing over 90% of disciplines within the forensic sciences 

Restoring this funding means:

• Ensuring more accurate and timely investigations
• Supporting overburdened forensic professionals
• Providing better public health surveillance
• Strengthening public health and safety nationwide
• and—most importantly—potential answers for families facing SUDC. 

Add your Voice: 

Please sign this petition to show your support for families impacted by SUDC and other unexplained deaths. Stand with the SUDC Foundation and the National Association of Medical Examiners in urging Congress to protect the future and integrity of forensic science—and the families who depend on it. 

Because every family and child gone too soon deserves answers.

For more information on the SUDC Foundation, please visit: sudc.org.

#TogetherWeAreStronger #SupportCoverdell #ProtectForensicFunding #SUDCAwareness #SUDCFoundation #PublicHealth #ChildLoss