The Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) Pool Safely Grant Program will award more than $2 million to eight state and local governments. The grants aim to preventing pool and spa drownings, as well as drain entrapments.
The state and local governments were selected by CPSC, from a group of applicants, to receive more than $2 million in Pool Safely Grant Program (PSGP) grant funds. This funding appropriated by Congress will provide these state and local governments with assistance for education, training and enforcement of pool safety requirements that are intended to save lives and prevent serious injuries.
This round of grants will go to:
- City of North Richland Hills, Texas ($319,486)
- DuPage County Health Department, Ill. ($378,854)
- Florida Department of Health ($400,000)
- City of Huntington Beach, Calif. ($141,837)
- District of Columbia Health Department ($64,530)
- Seminole County, Florida ($194,535)
- Harris County, Texas ($394,870)
- City of Amarillo, Texas ($107,854)
“Drowning remains the number one cause of death for children ages 1 to 4,” said CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric. “These grants can make a real difference by providing funding to assist communities in their lifesaving work to reduce the risk of drowning and drain entrapment in pools and spas.”
The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (VGB Act) was passed by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush in December 2007. The VGB Act authorizes the Pool Safely Grant Program, which provides state and local governments with assistance for education, training and enforcement of pool safety requirements.
CPSC’s website www.PoolSafely.gov has more information on the Pool Safely Grant Program and the VGB Act, as well as free, downloadable educational materials available to the public.