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It is well documented that communities respond better to community education and public health interventions provided to them by individuals that share their same identity. Indeed, diversifying the public health workforce has become a priority not just for the federal Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, but even locally here in King County. King County, in 2020, declared racism as a public health crisis, and Public Health Seattle King County have likewise committed itself to addressing inequity and racism as part of a larger strategies to address inequities in health outcomes.
Car seat safety plays an important role in reducing the chances of unintentional death and injury because of motor vehicle crashes. Child Passenger Safety Technicians likewise play a critical role in promoting safe use and installation of car seats amongst the public. However, while research does not exist in King County for the number of technicians who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color, anecdotal evidence from car seat check events from around King County suggest that communities of color are not being adequately reached in our current makeup of CPSTs.
To address this disparity in representation amongst CPSTs in King County, it is the goal of Safe Sound Kids Northwest to train more technicians in areas typically and historically underserved within King County. It is important that local families have people within their own communities that they can turn to for resources and information.
To meet this goal, we intend to reserve at least 20% of our course registrations for individuals who live or work within the most economically disadvantaged cities within King County.
The following areas have been identified as meeting at least 2 of the following criteria, and would be considered “economically disadvantaged”:
Have unemployment levels of eight percent or higher,
Have more than 28 percent of residents at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, and
Where over 70 percent of residents 25 years and older have no college degree,
OR reside where the percentage of individuals is below the poverty level.
The cities we would give preferential placement in our hybrid course include:
Auburn, Federal way, Kent, Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Pacific, Renton, Seattle (downtown, Capitol Hill/Eastlake, Greenlake, University District, S. Beacon Hill/South Park, Queen Anne, Rainier Valley/Rainier Beach, Belltown, Central District, Lake City, Industrial District), Mount Baker, White Center, Burien, SeaTac/Tukwila, Des Moines, Everett, Gold Bar, Buckley, and Bryn Mawr-Skyway.
Sources:
There is considerable research in this area, but one might easily refer to these few articles as a reference:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3863703/
https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4194634/
https://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/racism-disparities/index.html
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