Every year, thousands of children and adolescents in the United States are affected by preventable injuries and violence. We know more than ever about what works to keep them safe. But, how do we take what we know and make it happen across complex systems, agencies, and communities? What does it take to improve child safety at scale?
If you ask the states and Title V agencies working on the front lines, the answer is rarely a single program or strategy. It’s relationships. It’s shared learning. It’s having the space and support to test ideas, learn quickly, adjust and keep going. That’s exactly what the Children’s Safety Network’s (CSN) Child Safety Learning Collaborative (CSLC) was designed to do.
A different way to do improvement
The CSLC brings together state and jurisdiction teams to work on some of the most pressing child safety challenges like suicide and self-harm prevention, bullying prevention, safe sleep, and child passenger and teen driver safety. Beyond its focus on child safety topics, what sets the CSLC apart is how its teams work.
Using the CSN Framework for Quality Improvement and Innovation in Child Safety, teams:
*Test ideas in real time
*Use data to guide decisions
*Learn from peers across the country
*Build partnerships that extend beyond their agencies
This structured, collaborative approach matters. In one study, teams participating in the CSLC achieved an average 2.4-fold increase in the spread of evidence-based and evidence-informed child safety strategies.
Across states, the impact of the CSLC shows up in different ways, but a few themes are consistent: stronger partnerships, more coordinated systems, and a workforce that feels more equipped to do the work.
In Louisiana, participation in the CSLC helped bring partners together in a way that hadn’t happened before. Kristen Sanderson, Violence and Injury Prevention Manager at the Louisiana Bureau of Family Health, shared “The Collaborative was the first time all these organizations got together… [It] gave us a space to share.” That space for connection led to a statewide suicide prevention collaborative that continues today.
In Tennessee, the collaborative structure helped teams move faster and reach further. “Because we were in regular communication with our CSLC State team, we were able to get the message… out to a wider network of partners more efficiently,” according to Melissa Muñoz, Program Director of Suicide Prevention at the Tennessee Department of Health, Division of Family Health and Wellness.
And in Kentucky teams described how the CSLC made complex work feel manageable: “The CSLC has been very helpful in helping us not get too overwhelmed from the front end and taking it piece by piece, helping with the quality improvement process and connecting us with other states that have implemented [similar strategies],” said Dr. Christina Howard, a pediatric child abuse and injury prevention physician and member of the trauma team at the University of Kentucky Healthcare System.
The role of CSN: more than technical assistance
At the center of this work is CSN, serving as both a guide and a partner. CSN creates the conditions for improvement by:
*Offering ongoing technical assistance and coaching
*Facilitating peer learning across states
*Providing quality improvement tools like child safety and injury prevention focused change packages
*Helping teams apply systems thinking in complex environments
Participants consistently describe this support as critical. “If I needed support… we know you’re a quick email away or a phone call away.” That kind of responsiveness helps teams stay engaged, especially when the work is challenging.
Building workforce and systems at the same time
One of the most important lessons from the CSLC is that improving outcomes requires both systems change and workforce development. Teams reported that participation in the collaborative helped them:
*Build knowledge of quality improvement and systems thinking
*Strengthen partnerships across agencies and sectors
*Apply evidence-based strategies in real-world settings
In fact, nearly 78% of teams reported developing knowledge of CSLC tools and strategies, and more than half reported improvements in workforce development. This dual focus on people and systems is what allows change to take hold.
Sustaining change over time
Perhaps the most compelling finding comes after the collaborative ends. In a recent qualitative follow-up, 100% of teams reported sustaining the change ideas they had implemented six months after participating in the CSLC. That kind of sustained impact is rare, and it speaks to the strength of the model. As one participant put it, “Having those meetings makes us accountable… now that we sort of know each other… we reach out to each other more.” The collaboration doesn’t end when the collaborative ends. The connections remain.
What this means for the future
Improving child safety is complex. It requires coordination across agencies, alignment of priorities, and the ability to adapt in real time. The CSLC shows that when states are given the structure, support, and space to learn together, meaningful change is not only possible but sustainable.
For more information check out the Children’s Safety Network website or reach out to csninfo@edc.org.