More than 37 percent of child and adolescent deaths in the United States in 2023 were caused by injuries and violence. We know that data is essential to preventing these tragedies. Data help define the scope of the problem, identify where to focus prevention efforts, and understand how communities compare.
During this State Technical Assistance Webinar, participants will explore the resource guide, Child and Adolescent Injury and Violence Prevention: Locating and Using the Data, a recent publication from the Children’s Safety Now Alliance. This resource guide provides an overview of 12 national data systems that can support child injury and violence prevention efforts. It offers information on the strengths, limitations, availability, and cost of each data system, as well as practical guidance on how to access the data sources. Dr. Bina Ali, director of the Children’s Safety Network Economics and Data Analysis Resource Center (CSN EDARC), will join the Child Safety Learning Collaborative staff to share data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS), Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER[1]), and Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) and discuss accessing and using data in child safety. CSN staff will engage the audience in a discussion of how to use national and state level data to drive quality improvement initiatives at the state and local level.
Presenters:
Bina Ali, PhD, is the director of the Children’s Safety Network Economics and Data Analysis Resource Center (CSN EDARC), operated by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE). She has experience in behavioral health research and program evaluation, specifically in the areas of injury and violence prevention and substance use prevention. She regularly analyzes violence and injury incidences, trends, disparities, and costs using fatalities, hospitalizations, and emergency department visits, as well as other surveillance data, to help CSN determine priority issues and drive action. She also provides technical assistance on understanding, accessing, and utilizing data to facilitate injury and violence prevention efforts.
Lauren Gilman, MA, is a training and technical assistance specialist for the CSN and a co-manager of the Child Safety Learning Collaborative. She is the content specialist for bullying prevention and social and emotional learning (SEL). Her integrated approach to preventing bullying, substance misuse, and other risky behaviors emphasizes interconnected risk and protective factors and fosters collaboration at the community level.
Maria Katradis, PhD, is an education and public health researcher with expertise in youth development, adult learning, international education, and quality improvement. Maria is a training and technical assistance specialist for the CSN and is a co-manager of the Child Safety Learning Collaborative. She is the content specialist for suicide and self-harm prevention and poisoning prevention. She manages and analyzes data, provides training and technical assistance, and presents on topics such as quality improvement and evidence-based and evidence informed strategies for child and adolescent injury and violence prevention. She utilizes both qualitative and quantitative research methods to help states develop a clearer picture of where they are in their quality improvement process.
[1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. National Vital Statistics System, Mortality 2023 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2024. Data are from the final Multiple Cause of Death Files, 2023, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. …;[accessed 24 Mar 2025].