June 2008 

From the CEO
How many members of the MCH community attended the recent conference of the State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association? I wish I could say I was one of many, but in fact there were only a few of us present. During the meeting I was struck by how many sessions were MCH-related and how much of injury prevention involves interventions for mothers, children, and families. It became clear to me that we have some work to do to enhance collaboration between MCH and injury prevention programs!

MCH and injury prevention program collaboration is more than just a good thing to do. It is absolutely vital to addressing one of the leading causes of death for children. Over 20,000 children between the ages of 0 and 19 die of injuries annually in the U.S. [read Mike Fraser's full article]

Movers & Shakers
Lloyd Potter, MPH, PhD, Director of the Children's Safety Network (CSN) discusses the reduction of motor vehicle crash fatalities among children and the increase of teen suicides, along with the involvement of MCH in injury prevention. [read the complete interview]

Features
Missouri's Safe Families Action Learning Lab Experience – Missouri is one of four states involved in the AMCHP and Family Violence Prevention Fund's Safe Families Action Learning Lab initiative. The Missouri team has made significant progress toward reducing domestic violence and perinatal health disparities in their state. [read more]

Cost-Benefit of Child Safety Seat Programs – The Children's Safety Network (CSN) offers resources to assist you in meeting Title V National Performance Measure #10. [read more]

Finding Funding for Injury and Violence Prevention – CSN offers tips on finding funding to support statewide and community-based injury and violence prevention programs. [read more]

MCH Success Stories
Successful collaboration between MCH and injury prevention programs has lead to child passenger safety training in Connecticut; bullying prevention in Virginia; domestic violence screening in Massachusetts; and enhanced prevention of child abuse and neglect in Kentucky. [read more here]

View from Washington
In this edition of "View from Washington," Brent Ewig discusses AMCHP's participation in a recent Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on childhood injury prevention. [To read more, click here]

Data & Trends
Unintentional Motor Vehicle Death Rates, ages 0-14 years, 1999-2005

Resource Bank

• Guide to Integrating Injury and Violence Prevention into Maternal and Child Health Programs
• Tool to Assist in the Development of Bike Safety Programs
• Report on Preventing Youth Suicide in Rural America
• Summary of Cost-Outcome Analysis for Injury Prevention Programs
• HRSA's Stop Bullying Now! Campaign
• The National MCH Center for Child Death Review
• Report on Cause-of-Injury Coding
• Review of School-Based Programs for Prevention of Violence and Aggressive Behavior
• Best Practices Guide to Child Passenger Safety
• National Violent Death Reporting System
• Suicide Prevention Resource Center

[complete resource bank]

Get Involved

Save the Date for "Seat Check Saturday!"

This year's Child Passenger Safety Week (September 21-27) emphasizes the need for consumers to have their car seats inspected to ensure their children are riding safely. The second annual "Seat Check Saturday" will kick-off CPS Week on September 20, and will draw national attention to the importance and lifesaving potential of child safety seat inspections.

A promotional planner is available to provide you with marketing material, earned media tools and ideas that you can distribute to fit your local needs and objectives while at the same time partnering with other states, communities and organizations. [click here to access the planner]