INTERNATIONAL SAFE COMMUNITIES SUPPORT CENTER 

Safe Communities Support Centers provide education, support, assistance and advice in injury and violence prevention and safety promotion to the communities in their country and the Pan Pacific region.  The various support centers in the Pan Pacific Safe Communities Network (PPSCN) work in conjunction with their national accrediting center and are committed to the principles and framework  of the PPSCN.  Support centers may be invited (but are not required) to join the board of the PPSCN.  Support centers are members of PPSCN and must undergo an international peer-review process. 

Organizations that seek PPSCN International Support Center status must have a record of commitment and expertise in the injury and violence prevention and safety promotion field.  They must commit to the principles and framework of the PPSCN and be invited to apply by their nation's peak body for Safe Communities.  They must demonstrate capacity and willingness to help communities develop injury prevention and safety promotion programs that are consistent with the criteria for Safe Community accreditation.  Support centers also help communities navigate the application and accreditation process, provide advice and technical guidance in the use of injury data and in the selection of evidence-based or -informed prevention projects, and help foster communication and networking between Safe Communities and between accredited communities, their national accrediting center, and the PPSCN. 

The US Safe Communities Support Center is operated by the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (KIPRC).  Although KIPRC also serves as the national accrediting center for the United States, and some staff are shared between the support center and the accrediting center, the two roles are different.  The accrediting center focuses on ensuring that communities applying for Safe Community accreditation meet the Safe Communities America and PPSCN standards for accreditation and that accredited communities continue to meet those standards.  The support center focuses on helping communities develop active injury prevention and safety promotion programs and, when those programs have reached an appropriate level of maturity and completeness, helping those communities to understand and navigate the Safe Communities accreditation process.  To use an analogy from sports, the Safe Communities Support Center acts as a coach for communities while the National Accrediting Center serves as the referee.