NATIONAL NONPROFIT HOME SAFETY COUNCIL® RECEIVES MAJOR FEDERAL GRANT TO CREATE CRITICAL FIRE PREVENTION PROGRAM TARGETING FAMILIES OF PRESCHOOLERS NATIONWIDE

New Program Provides Vital Fire Prevention Tools to Assist Fire and Life Safety Educators in Reaching the Parents of Preschool Children at High-Risk

The Home Safety Council (HSC) has been awarded an Assistance to Firefighters Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the amount of $1 million. This funding will be utilized by HSC to launch a new program designed to provide fire and life safety educators essential communications materials to reach the target most at risk, preschool-age children and their families with lower levels of income and education.

"We are very thankful that FEMA has entrusted HSC with this funding," said Meri-K Appy, president of the Home Safety Council. "Fire service personnel have so many pressing priorities and, sadly, few resources to address high-risk populations like underserved preschool children. This federal investment will allow HSC and our partners to create specially designed fire and burn safety education tools for the children, their teachers and the fire fighters who will visit their classrooms. We're also developing information for those in the best position to keep the children safe – their parents and caregivers."

Home Safety Council research has shown that fire and life safety educators need highly specialized no-cost and low-cost communications tools to reach certain high-risk groups. Carefully crafted materials can help overcome the literacy and cultural barriers that prevent many parents and caregivers from understanding and having the ability to act upon basic fire and safety prevention messages. HSC's new program will arm fire and safety personnel with bilingual materials and hands-on training techniques to engage parents and caregivers in activities that will reduce the risk of preschooler burns and scalds.

Recognizing the diverse needs of the fire service in delivering fire and safety education to their communities, HSC will collaborate with career, volunteer and combination departments to field test the program in urban, suburban and rural settings. HSC believes that this strategy will provide the necessary guided practice in the program evaluation of community-based education.

HSC plans to actively enlist participation of their own Expert Network – a group of almost 6,000 firefighters, public health educators and other fire and life safety advocates – to get involved. In addition, four significant partners will assist in the development, implementation, delivery and sustainability of the program. The four primary partners include:

• Weekly Reader, a leading publisher of educational products for schools and libraries, will facilitate access into 6,750 Head Start preschools and daycare centers reaching 27,000 educators and 405,000 families of low socio-economic status – ultimately impacting a conservative estimate of 4.8 million individuals!
• ProLiteracy, the largest adult literacy organization in the United States, will ensure the readability of the messaging and access adults who may need help in understanding critical fire safety information.
• OSU's Fire Protection Publications, the world's foremost publisher of training materials for fire and emergency services, will prepare research-based guidance to support fire service presentations to preschoolers.
• National Head Start Association, a private not-for-profit dedicated to meeting the needs of Head Start children and their families, will deliver the materials to young children and their caregivers in homes with low socio-economic status.

A variety of materials including self-training tools for fire and community safety educators, instructional videos and other fire safety literature for parents and caregivers, a 10 – 12 minute video for preschool children and four-color Big Book in Spanish and English text will be developed to support the program. A Web tutorial and group presentation will provide online training to increase understanding of strategies for reaching underserved preschoolers, their teachers and parents. Additionally, six Regional Trainings conducted by HSC staff at Head Start Centers will teach and reinforce lessons on preschool fire and burn safety to teachers, administrators, parents and firefighters.

"HSC is eager to launch this exciting program. With the help of the Expert Network, fire and life safety educators and our devoted partners, we will have the opportunity to ensure that high-risk families can learn critical, life-saving fire safety messages. Our ultimate goal is to make fire safety a priority and create safer homes and communities nationwide," said Appy.