Pool Safely Grants Aim To Prevent Drownings, Drain Entrapments

To reduce deaths and injuries from drowning and drain entrapment incidents in pools and spas, the Pool Safely Grant Program offers $2 million to state, local governments.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is seeking applications for its Pool Safely Grant Program (PSGP) to assist state and local governments in reducing deaths and injuries from drowning and drain entrapment incidents in pools and spas. CPSC will award up to a total of $2 million in two-year grants to qualifying jurisdictions.

The PSGP is an essential part of CPSC’s national campaign to prevent drain entrapment and drowning, which is the leading cause of deaths among young children.

Made possible through the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (VGB Act), the grant program seeks to provide state and local governments with assistance for education, training, and enforcement of pool safety requirements, as well as anti-drowning education. Since the act’s passage in 2007, the agency has provided nearly $5 million in funding to 24 recipients.

Pool drowning
(Source: CPSC)

“CPSC is proud to be able to help states and municipalities with these funds to support their water safety efforts. The Virginia Graeme Baker Act grants can potentially save lives through enforcement of pool safety laws, informing the public about entrapment dangers and other education to prevent drowning,” said CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric. “I urge states and municipalities to take advantage of this opportunity to help their own communities take on one of the leading causes of deaths for young children.”

To qualify for a grant, applicants must be a state or local government 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 are encouraged to review the solicitation on Grants.gov. Applications will be accepted through June 20, 2022.

The VGB Act has helped reduce the risk of drowning and drain entrapment by requiring public pools and spas to install new safety drain covers. Through federal grants and education programs, states and localities are encouraged to require residential pools and spas to utilize physical barriers, such as a fence with self-closing, self-latching gates that completely surrounds the pool.

More pool safety tips are available at www.poolsafely.gov.

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