State, local and tribal governments can apply for up to $3 million in grant funding available through the Pool Safely Grant Program, through the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The two-year grants can be used to reduce deaths and injuries from drowning and drain entrapment incidents in pools and spas. The grant program is an essential piece of CPSC’s national campaign to prevent drowning—one of the leading causes of death among young children—as well as drain entrapment.
“Drowning continues to be a devastating issue for families across the country. I encourage state, local and tribal governments to apply for this grant program to make an impact in their communities,” said CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric. “The funding can be used for drowning education, training and enforcement of pool safety requirements, as well anti-drowning education.”
The grant awards will range from $50,000 to $400,000 each. The grant program is authorized through the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (VGB Act). Since 2016, CPSC has provided more than $7.7 million in Pool Safely grants to 35 recipients who used it for a variety of drowning prevention activities, including to train their pool safety enforcement officials and run swim safety education programs in their communities.
“We must do all we can to prevent drownings, the leading cause of preventable death for America’s youngest children,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. “We can avoid these devastating tragedies by adding common-sense layers of protection around bodies of water, like teaching children to swim, ensuring pools have the right safety equipment and are properly constructed and inspected, and educating parents and communities on the vital importance of supervising children in and near the water. And these grants are critical tools to help us accomplish all those goals.”
Wasserman Schultz authored and championed the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007. This child safety law has helped reduce the risk of drowning and drain entrapment by requiring public pools and spas to install new safety drain covers and through federal grants and education programs to encourage states and localities to require residential pools and spas to utilize physical barriers, such as a fence completely surrounding the pool, with self-closing, self-latching gates.
Grant applicants must be a state or local government, Indian Tribe or U.S. territory that has an enacted or amended a law that meets the requirements of the VGB Act (15 U.S.C. 8001), sections 1405 and 1406.
Prospective applicants can review the solicitation on Grants.gov, under grant opportunity CPSC-24-001. Applications will be accepted through July 12, 2024.