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safe and active communities (SAC) Branch

California Kids' Plates Program

The California legislature passed a bill in 1992 for the sale of Kids' Plates specialized vehicle license plates and the creation of the Child Health and Safety Fund.  Revenue from the sale of Kids' Plates, which contain an embossed heart, hand, star, or plus sign, goes into the Fund and is used to support three significant child health and safety issues in California: 1) unintentional childhood injuries; 2) child abuse; and 3) child care licensing and inspection.

The Safe and Active Communities Branchā€™s (SACB) State and Local Injury Control (SLIC) Section oversees and administers the portion of the Child Health and Safety Fund dedicated to preventing unintentional childhood injuries, the leading cause of death for Californiaā€™s children from ages 1 to 18.  Using funding generated by the sale of Kids' Plates, SLIC provides funding to local entities to support and encourage the use of best practices to address this devastating public health issue.  For a report on appropriations received, expenditures made, and awards, please read our Kids' Plates Report FY 2011-2016.

Since 1998, SLIC has made over 700 awards throughout California to reduce or eliminate unintentional injuries in children and youth, focusing on areas such as:

    • Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety

    • Bicycle Safety

    • Fire and Burn Prevention

    • Drowning Prevention

    • Poisoning Prevention

    • Unintentional Firearm Injury

    • Fall Prevention (including playground-related falls)

    • Sudden Infant Death

August 2016 Request for Application (RFA)

Most recently, through a Request for Application (RFA) released in February 2016, the Kidsā€™ Plates Program awarded child safety equipment to 145 local non-profit organizations throughout California. Kids' Plates distributed 1,496 child safety seats, 12,936 multi-sport helmets, 5,654 life vests, and 6,846 smoke alarms.  The goal of this RFA was to accomplish the following:

    • Promote the proper use of child passenger safety seats and support the new California law requiring children to be secured in rear-facing car seats until the age of two;

    • Promote helmet use during such activities as bicycling or skateboarding; 

    • Promote life vest use and water safety;  

    • Promote proper smoke alarm use;

    • Disseminate these safety equipment items at no-cost for the benefit of California children up to age 18 who are from low income families.   

A list of awardees.

Projects Funded 2012 - 2015:

Through a RFA released in August 2012, the Kidsā€™ Plates Program awarded projects for 2013-15 to focus on educational interventions to address bicycle and pedestrian safety in underserved and rural communities using the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) evidence-based model. The projects included:

    • Northern Region ā€“ WalkSacramento (working with selected elementary schools in Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yuba counties).

    • Northern Region ā€“ Safe Kids California (working with selected elementary schools in Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yuba counties).

    • Central Region ā€“ Monterey County Department of Health (working with selected elementary schools in cities of Seaside and Marina)

    • Southern Region ā€“ Escondido Union School District (working with selected elementary and middle schools in Escondido).

 Awardees submitted a Progress Report: January 2014 , a Annual Report: June 2014, a January 2015 Progress Report Summary, and a Final Report July 2015 .

The next procurement and planning process for the Kids' Plates Program is currently in development.  Please check back soon for more information.

For more information about the Kids' Plates Program, please contact Nancy Bagnato, Chief, State and Local Injury Control Section, at nancy.bagnato@cdph.ca.gov

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