Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) has been awarded a one-year Child Passenger Safety grant to help prevent injuries and deaths through its Public Health Nursing program.
The $88,500 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) supports an effort to educate families receiving home visits from public health nurses in Contra Costa about child passenger safety, and distribute child car seats to those in need of them.
Nurses and community health workers, with a certified child passenger safety technician, will provide education to parents and caregivers, and distribute and install no-cost car seats as needed during their comprehensive home visits.
Many home visit clients cannot afford new child car seats.
“Public health nurses in Contra Costa County serve vulnerable, low-income families who are impacted daily by health inequities. Our families struggle with meeting the basic needs of the children. Rent, food, clothing all become priorities over car seats, and many of our families use old, expired car seats. This program is a much-needed resource to help keep children safe,” said Marilyn Condit, a nurse program manager.
A correctly used car seat reduces fatality risk by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers, according to the NHTSA. Children in booster seats aged four to eight are 45% less likely to sustain injuries in a motor vehicle crash than children restrained by a seat belt.
CCHS encourages Public Health Nursing clients to take advantage of the grant-funded services to ensure that their children travel in the right seat for their age and size.
For more information, contact Michelle Rivero, Child Health and Disability Prevention Program Manager, at 925-608-5119 or [email protected]
The $88,500 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) supports an effort to educate families receiving home visits from public health nurses in Contra Costa about child passenger safety, and distribute child car seats to those in need of them.
Nurses and community health workers, with a certified child passenger safety technician, will provide education to parents and caregivers, and distribute and install no-cost car seats as needed during their comprehensive home visits.
Many home visit clients cannot afford new child car seats.
“Public health nurses in Contra Costa County serve vulnerable, low-income families who are impacted daily by health inequities. Our families struggle with meeting the basic needs of the children. Rent, food, clothing all become priorities over car seats, and many of our families use old, expired car seats. This program is a much-needed resource to help keep children safe,” said Marilyn Condit, a nurse program manager.
A correctly used car seat reduces fatality risk by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers, according to the NHTSA. Children in booster seats aged four to eight are 45% less likely to sustain injuries in a motor vehicle crash than children restrained by a seat belt.
CCHS encourages Public Health Nursing clients to take advantage of the grant-funded services to ensure that their children travel in the right seat for their age and size.
For more information, contact Michelle Rivero, Child Health and Disability Prevention Program Manager, at 925-608-5119 or [email protected]
