Kids' Plates

Kids’ Plates are specialty California license plates that can be individualized of randomly numbered. The two most unique components of Kids’ Plates: 1) They are the only license plates sold in California that include one of four symbols- Heart, Hand, Star, or Plus sign in the plate message; and 2) They generate funding to help keep children and adolescents safe from injury and maltreatment.

In 1992, the California Legislature passed a bill allowing for the sale of Kids’ Plates motor vehicle license plates, with revenues generated to be deposited into the Child Health and Safety Fund for appropriation to support three significant child safety issues in California:

• 50% supports child care licensing and inspections;
• 25% supports prevention of child abuse
• 25% of the funds support unintentional childhood injury prevention (UIP)

Kids’ Plates Program

The goal of the California Kids’ Plates Program’s childhood injury prevention component is to build a movement in California for the prevention of unintentional injuries among children, thus reducing the impact of this highly preventable public health problem. The Kids’ Plates Program achieves this goal by supporting the efforts of programs that work to prevent child injuries or hope to add injury prevention to their repertoire of efforts on behalf of children.

The State and Local Injury Control (SLIC) Section of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is charged with overseeing and administering the portion of the Kids’ Plates funds reserved for Unintentional Injury Prevention. This collaboration returns Injury Prevention revenues to local communities, in the form of grants which are made available to qualified agencies in California that are developing or conducting unintentional injury prevention efforts for children aged 0-18.

Thus far, about 550 grants have been awarded to community based organizations, local health departments, schools, and other agencies throughout California. Kids’ Plates funds programs that are working to reduce or eliminate unintentional injuries in children with a specific focus on these injury areas:

• Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety
• Bike Safety
• Fall Prevention
• Drowning Prevention
• Pedestrian Safety
• Poison Prevention
• Unintentional Firearm Injury

Visit Kids' Plates web site by clicking on the image above or the link below: http://www.kidsplates.org