Injury and Violence Prevention

MCHB's Injury and Violence Prevention Programs

The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) funds a network of Injury and Violence Prevention Programs, many of which address prevention of sudden and unexpected death of infants and children. These programs include:

• Children's Safety Network
  Works with State and Territorial Title V, Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and Injury and Violence Prevention (IVP) programs to strengthen their capacity to create healthy, safe and injury free communities for children and families. CSN works with a broad range of partners, including federal agencies, national organizations and professional groups to increase awareness about the importance of, extend the reach of, and share information on injury and violence prevention with state health agencies and others. CSN provides technical assistance, publications, and an electronic newsletter.
• National Center for the Review and Prevention of Child Deaths
  Supports efforts to understand why children die and to prevent child deaths. The center's services include providing technical assistance, training, and support to child death review (CDR) teams, creating CDR support resources and tools; establishing a national CDR report system; coordinating with other mortality and morbidity reviews; collaborating with state Title V programs; and promoting CDR to national public and private organizations.
• National Sudden and Unexpected Infant/Child Death and Pregnancy Loss Consortium
  Provides an array of coordinated resources and services for a broad constituency in the public and private sector including state and local efforts, as well as families impacted by loss. The Consortium includes the Program Support Center at First Candle, Project IMPACT, the National Center for Cultural Competence SUID/SIDS Project and the Resource Center.
  
  See the Resource Center list of resources about shaken baby syndrome (abusive head trauma).

Other National Organizations

• Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Safety tips, checklists, and other materials in English and Spanish about potentially hazardous consumer products including cribs, car seats, and toys for infants. Offers several electronic alert services in English and Spanish for consumer product recalls and safety news, including those products used in homes and communities that are potentially hazardous for infants. CPSC also produces a blog about safety and issues consumer product recalls via Twitter, mobile phone applications, RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds, and other mechanisms to automatically receive updates about new recalls and safety news. CPSC evaluates the safety of products sold to the public. See CPSC's Crib Information Center.
• Safe Kids USA. Safety tips, information about federal and state child safety laws, car seat inspection station contact information, and other resources for safety professionals, educators, and families about preventing unintentional injuries among infants, children, and adolescents. Safe Kids is a nationwide network of organizations working to prevent unintentional childhood injury, a leading cause of death and disability for children ages 14 and under.

Maternal and Child Health Library Resources

The MCH Library expands the work of the National SUID/SIDS Resource Center by placing SUID/SIDS into the larger MCH perspective. See these Library resources for links to injury and violence prevention resources:

• Child Abuse Prevention and Intervention Services. The MCH Library's Community Services Locator helps service providers and families find available national, state, and local resources that can address child and family needs.
• Child Safety and Injury Prevention Resource Brief. Lists websites related to injury and violence prevention for infants and children as well as related briefs on adolescent violence prevention, bullying, child abuse, child safety, domestic violence, environmental health, school health resources, and teen violence prevention resources.
• Reaching Out to Children and Youth Following Disasters. The impact on children and families of disasters, terrorism, trauma, or violence presents many challenges to families and health professionals. This guide provides resources for helping children and adolescents cope with injury; loss of loved ones; destruction of homes and schools; and other trauma.
• Adolescent Violence Prevention Knowledge Path. This path offers a selection of current, high-quality resources from these disciplines that measure, document, and monitor the problem; identify risk and protective factors; and report on promising intervention strategies. Separate sections identify resources on specific aspects of adolescent violence: bullying, dating violence, family violence, firearms, gangs, media violence, school violence, suicide, and violent-crime victimization. This knowledge path is aimed at health and social services professionals, educators, policymakers, community activists, and families, and it will be updated periodically.
• Lead Poisoning Prevention Resource Brief. Elevated levels of lead in the blood of infants and children have been shown to affect IQ, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement. This guide provides resources to help parents, health professionals, public health officials, and communities take action to reduce children's exposure to lead.

 

Updated January 2013