EDC to Continue Leadership of the Children’s Safety Network

EDC has received a $5 million award from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) to continue to lead the Children’s Safety Network (CSN). In its over 30 years of heading up CSN for HRSA, EDC has supported Title V agency staff in using evidence-based practices and quality improvement to significantly reduce serious and fatal injuries to infants, children, and adolescents in all 50 states, jurisdictions, and tribes.

Over the next five years, EDC, long-time partner Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, and a national coalition of colleague health and safety experts will work together to ensure all children ages 0–19 are safe and healthy and have equitable access to resources to reach their full potential. A key priority will be to promote health equity and address social determinants of health that negatively impact young people.  

“For decades, EDC and HRSA have collaborated to improve young people’s physical and mental well-being,” said Jennifer Leonardo, CSN project director. “We are excited to continue this key partnership and to further advance the vital work of Title V agency staff. Every day, they make a powerfully positive difference for children and families.”

EDC’s CSN work will continue to focus on producing measurable improvements in injury prevention and safety for children ages 0–19. A few strategic initiatives follow:

• Provide universal technical assistance (TA) and capacity building (e.g., national trainings, conference presentations, publications) to strengthen the Title V workforce  
• Deliver individual and intensive TA to at least 25 states
• Lead learning collaboratives that will address key safety topics and use quality improvement approaches and evidence-based strategies to reduce injuries
• Widely disseminate information to both Title V staff and the public via an expanded CSN Web portal and online resource library
• Conduct research to identify and respond to urgent and emergent health and safety challenges
• Convene and leverage the expertise of a national coalition of health and safety experts, including people with lived experience; representatives from federal, state, and local agencies; leaders of national organizations; medical professionals from hospitals; and higher education leaders from universities

Watch a video about the work of CSN:

Learn more about EDC’s Maternal and Child Health and Behavioral, Physical, and Mental Health work.

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Child and Adolescent Injury and Violence Prevention Resource Centers Cooperative Agreement (U49MC28422) for $5,000,000 with 0 percent financed with nongovernmental sources. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by, HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.