December 2025
Spotlight: HealthyChildren.org
The Keep America Safe Coalition is a national alliance of leading health organizations, research institutions, and agencies united to protect and preserve the CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
With more than 50 members, the coalition is working to safeguard the vital role CDC plays in tracking data and implementing evidence-based strategies to prevent suicide and overdose in all 50 states. The coalition aims to educate policymakers and the public about the critical role the CDC Injury Center plays in protecting health and saving lives.
Learn more about the coalition’s activities and join the effort to protect the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control here.
National Injury Prevention Day: What’s Next
As injury prevention advocates, our momentum must continue forward. This toolkit empowers you to keep the energy of National Injury Prevention Day going all year long. Whether you're looking to connect with others in the field, find and share trusted resources, spotlight effective programs, or start planning for next year's NIPD, this guide offers simple, low-lift ideas to keep the conversation going. Each quarter includes a theme and suggested activities that make it easy to stay visible, foster peer connection, and continue elevating the importance of injury prevention in your community and beyond.
Download the toolkit and/or sign the pledge here.
Coming Soon: Social Media Calendar
We’re working hard to finish up the Jan-June 2026 Social Media Calendar! This calendar incorporates honorary days/weeks/months and seasonal topics, and it’s the one we use to guide our social media messaging. Check your inbox in a couple weeks for the first half of the 2026 calendar (second half will be posted in June).
Register for Media & Social Media Institute
Effective communication in public health has never been more important. In today's crowded media climate, it can be challenging to break through to the audience you are trying to reach. Come learn the skills you need to share research, promote programs, and create safer, healthier communities through the media and social media.
The Center for Injury Research and Policy (CIRP) at Nationwide Children's is hosting a 3 half-day Media & Social Media Institute for public health professionals on the afternoons of Jan. 22, Jan. 29, and Feb. 5, 2026. Trainings will be on Zoom, 1-5 p.m. ET. 10 entry-level CHES credits will be available.
Learn more and register here.
Social Media Calendar
Dec 1-7: Safe Toys & Gifts Month
Dec 8-14: Holiday Decorations
Dec 15-21: Firearm Safe Storage
Dec 22-28: Medication Safety
Dec 29 - Jan 4: Outdoor Winter Activities
Upcoming Events
Webinar: NCPSB CEU Webinar: What CPSTs Should Know About Child Safety and ATVs
Date: December 3, 2025, 2 PM ET
ATVs are popular in all areas of the country, but these vehicles—and their cousins the side-by-side and other off-road vehicle types—pose serious risks to children. While a car seat is not appropriate for use on these vehicles, there are many ways that CPSTs can educate families to help them vastly reduce ATV danger. This session will cover the various risk factors, best practice guidance, and how CPSTs can effectively educate and advocate for children. Join Denise Donaldson with Safe Ride News as she presents this CEU webinar.
Register here.
Webinar: Communicating about Public Health with Policymakers: Barriers, Strategies, and Tested Messages
Date: December 8, 2025, 2:30 - 3:45PM ET
Check out this upcoming webinar from the the American Public Health Association (APHA), the de Beaumont Foundation, CityHealth, and the National Association of Counties: Communicating About Public Health with Policymakers: Barriers, Strategies, and Tested Messages
Join this webinar for a conversation on ways to overcome barriers to effective public health communication, strategic and on-the-ground tips for engaging policymakers, and ways to make every interaction with policymakers more productive, persuasive, and impactful.
Learn more and register here.
Webinar: Communications Training Series for Community Leaders: Part Three
Date: December 9, 2025, 10 AM PT
Join Health Equity Communications Collaborative for a webinar where communications experts will highlight freely available, easy-to-use resources, including:
• Tools to stay on top of emerging events in public health, including a social listening dashboard that helps you track real-time online conversations around health equity;
• Templates and resources featuring researched-based, quality health information; and
• Training opportunities that equip public health professionals with the confidence and competence to communicate effectively with their communities.
More information and registration here.
Webinar: The S.A.F.E. Framework Approach to Prevent Injuries and Health Risks to Support Play Areas for Children
Date: December 10, 2025, 1 PM ET
Playground injuries are common among children, such as those from climbing apparatus, swings, and slides. They lead to over 200,000 emergency department visits in the US annually. These injuries range from minor skin abrasions to severe cases, such as fractures, concussions, and even death. School-aged and pre-school children account for most playground injuries. Every safe and comfortable playground starts with a plan. When shade disappears and surfaces overheat, play stops, and safety suffers.
In this webinar, an experienced playground safety researcher and an educator will come together to share recent research, information, trends, and current insights for the prevention of playground injuries and health risks from several perspectives. This webinar will highlight resources with expert strategies to design safe playgrounds to help community members, childcare managers, school leaders, municipalities, and educators build play spaces for children that stay cool, safe, and ready for action.
Learn more and register here.
Virtual Conference: Midwest Injury Prevention Alliance Conference
Date: December 11, 2025
Join this year’s Midwest Injury Prevention Alliance Conference as injury professionals from states in Federal Health and Human Services Region V (IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, and WI) gather to work toward reducing injury- and violence-related death and disability.
This year's theme is Connectedness: Staying True to Our Mission of Safety and Prevention. We hope to highlight topics that inspire, inform, and demonstrate the power of partnerships, the passion behind programs that serve individuals and communities, and the impact of policy in shaping the future of injury and violence prevention across our states.
Schedule:
* Check-in & Networking: 8:30-9:30 a.m. CT.
* Conference: 9:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. CT
Registration is free but required. View the agenda and register here.
Webinar: Building Partnerships Across State Agencies for Statewide Impact
Date: December 17, 2025, 2-3PM ET
Promoting the safety and wellbeing of children is, of course, a public health concern - but it isn’t ONLY in the domain of state health departments! The work that all of us are doing to prevent injury, promote mental health, and build systems that protect the most vulnerable doesn’t always live neatly within the borders of the public agency where we are employed. Often, cross-agency collaboration is essential to collecting key data, building capacity, and implementing strategies that are impactful and well-received.
In this State Technical Assistance Webinar (STAW) we will learn about the Strategic Prevention Technical Assistance Center (SPTAC)’s “Levels of Collaboration” framework1, which is part of the Prevention Collaboration in Action Toolkit. Next, we will hear from Children’s Safety Network’s Child Safety Learning Collaborative (CSLC) members who understand the necessity of partnering with other state agencies and have incorporated cross-agency collaboration into their data collection, communication, and programmatic strategies. CSLC state teams will describe why they have decided to partner with other state agencies, what the collaboration process looks like, and how this benefits the landscape of injury prevention, health promotion, and safety for children and adolescents in their states.
No registration is required – use this link to join (link opens up meeting).