A statewide nonprofit focused on creating safe environments for children, Child Crisis Arizona took over as the lead agency for Safe Kids of Maricopa County last week and will work to prevent children from being accidentally injured.

Safe Kids of Maricopa County educates parents and caregivers on the importance of safety around children.

The organization offers a number of services, including the county’s only emergency children’s shelter, counseling, early education, foster care and adoption services and parenting classes and workshops.

“At the time we took on Safe Kids of Maricopa County, our community was in a very different place,” said Max Porter, interim director of Maricopa County Department of Public Health. “Today, we have many nonprofits serving our families and youth who have the ability to leverage more resources to best support issues such as childhood injury prevention.”

According to a press release, Child Crisis Arizona will provide a full-time staffer to manage the coalition, board and program activities.

“We are excited about adding the Safe Kids program to our family education program offerings,” said Child Crisis Arizona CEO Torrie Taj. “We hope this program and the information it provides will help prevent childhood injuries and deaths in our community.”

For over two decades, Maricopa County Department of Public Health served as the lead agency for the coalition.

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