SCA's Mission and Role
Safe Communities America, Inc. is the
non-profit, coordinating and accrediting
organization for Safe Communities in
the United States.

OUR ROLE AND MISSION 

Safe Communities America has both national and international roles and missions. 

SCA's National Mission is to support the safety and health of communities and to improve the overall health of residents in the United States by developing and influencing health policy, promoting the use of data, best practices, evaluation and making prevention a priority.

SCA's Role nationally is to:

  • Enhance the capacity of communities and their partners to ensure effective injury and violence prevention programs by education, disseminating best practices, setting standards for surveillance, conducting program assessments, and facilitating site visits by SCA reviewers as part of the SCA accreditation process;
  • Sustain, enhance and promote an accredited SCA communities ability to identify, measure, describe, and recommend actions pertinent to the prevention and control of injuries and overall health;
  • Promote, conduct and interpret research on injuries and violence prevention at the community level;
  • Support the interpretation of technical information and to transfer research findings into preventive action for communities;
  • Promote the exchange of ideas, policies and information among members and counterparts in various federal, state and local agencies;
  • Sponsor, promote or participate in activities designed to prevent injuries and violence and promote health of United States residents;
  • Identify ways to strengthen and promote the uptake of best-practice in injury and violence prevention and health promotion;
  • Gather, evaluate and disseminate information regarding the development, accreditation and sustainability of Safe Communities within the United States and its territories;
  • Hold forums and educational events, and to publish periodicals, policy briefs, newsletters and articles regarding best- practice and prevention in the United States; and
  • Increase awareness in communities of injury and violence throughout the lifespan as a public health problem.

SCA's International Mission is to improve networking and collaboration between Safe Communities in Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America through the Pan Pacific Safe Communities Network.

SCA's Role internationally is to:

  • Continue to work collaboratively with the international Pan Pacific Safe Communities Network (PPSCN), and the World Health Organization Violence and Injury Prevention Division;
  • Provide a forum for collaboration and knowledge sharing between Safe Communities within the Pan Pacific Network;
  • Identify ways to strengthen the uptake of best-practice in injury prevention and safety promotion;
  • Identify ways to strengthen the lead role for Safe Communities within the Pan Pacific network; and
  • Build on the collective expertise of accredited Safe Communities, Support and/or PPSCN Safe Community Accrediting Centres, and support the efforts of communities in injury prevention and safety promotion.

Each SCA-accredited Safe Community uses the Safe Communities model which is a long-standing, coalition-based approach to reducing injuries and deaths. It works through engaging local partners who care about safety, using data to identify leading causes of injury, making a plan to address the issues using proven methods and measuring progress.

Upon accreditation with SCA, communities gain opportunities to engage with international partners as part of the Pan Pacific Safe Communities Network.  The PPSCN engages local partners that care about safety in order to reduce injuries and save lives, thereby broadening the Safe Communities impact worldwide.