A pilot program funded by a gift from the Anschutz Family Foundation has been launched by researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz. The initiative, called ‘Safe Starts at Home,’ aims to expand across Colorado to help prevent firearm injuries and overdoses among children and adolescents.
The program trains county staff who are already trained and qualified to conduct home visits to include conversations about secure storage of firearms, medications, and substances. The program distributes household safety kits that include firearm locking devices, medication storage bags, and educational materials on the importance of preventing unauthorized firearm access and overdose prevention.
The program began in response to requests from several Colorado counties and was developed by the Injury and Violence Prevention Center (IVPC) and the Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative (FIPI). The IVPC and FIPI teams packaged research on effective household safety practices to prevent firearm and overdose injuries and deaths, and developed training for these county staff who visit and support families. Within a year of that initial request to build the capacity of home-visiting professionals, approximately 40 other programs in the state had expressed interest in the Safe Starts at Home program.