CFPR Water Safety Grant Program

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Community Swim Lesson

The City of Redding operates the Redding Aquatic Center, which is a leader in Shasta County within the field of water safety and aquatic injury prevention, through its extensive programming. The Redding Aquatic Center is proud to offer programming to the public without requiring membership fees or dues in addition to program registration fees. Also, due to limited public resources in the surrounding rural communities, the Redding Aquatic Center serves a regional hub for aquatic safety education drawing participants from adjacent counties such as Tehama, Butte, Trinity and Siskiyou. The Redding Aquatic Center serves as the largest authorized provider of the American Red Cross Learn-to-Swim Program in Shasta County, of which the Parent and Child Aquatics Program and Preschool Learn-to-Swim programs are the most popular. These programs are specifically designed to meet the water safety needs of children six months to five years old and focus on teaching children and their caregivers how to be safe in, on, and around the water.

The genesis of this project idea began in 2023 when the Redding Aquatic Center programming resumed operation post-COVID. The Redding Aquatic Center hosts yearly end-of-year school parties for thousands of students from local area schools. These field trip groups often have very few adult chaperones, and the combination of few adults, excitement, and lack of practice over the winter months can heighten the risk of aquatic emergencies. To counter this, the Redding Aquatic Center has taken a very proactive stance on providing layers of protection for the children visiting our facility. One essential tool that we have is swim testing children when they come to our facility. Children must show that they can swim 25 yards across the pool without becoming exhausted to be in water over chest depth, and are placed in a lifejacket if unable to pass the swim test.

In 2024, we took a deep dive into our accident and incident reports on kids who needed rescue or could not complete the swim testing process at the Redding Aquatic Center. In examining the accident reports from these rescues and interviewing the children after their swim test, we found four reasons that these children were at risk for aquatic emergencies:

1. The child has the desire to be in deep water and the confidence to try it out, which leads them to get in, literally, over their head.
2. The child did not understand their swimming ability well or how far the swim distance is, which can lead them to take chances.
3. The child may be taking the test to keep up with their friends who are stronger swimmers and may be susceptible to peer pressure in the water.
4. The child was not sent in a lifejacket to the pool, so their parents may think they are competent in the water when they are not.

Armed with this information, we propose creating the Stay of Top of It program for Summer 2025. Once a child is identified as a Stay on Top of It candidate (failure to complete the swim test), they will receive a swim lesson voucher and be entered into our Stay on Top of It database. Parents are contacted to ensure they receive their swim lesson voucher and can select a swim session to enroll their child. Once enrolled, their instructor tracks their progress, and their skill acquisition is recorded. Each child is automatically eligible to be re-enrolled in swim lessons until they can perform five critical water safety skills, also known as “water competency,” identified by the American Red Cross. These skills are the ability to: 

1. Step or jump into the water over their head;
2. Return to the surface and float or tread water for one minute;
3. Turn around in a full circle and find an exit;
4. Swim 25 yards to the exit and exit from the water. 
5. If in a pool, you must be able to exit without using the ladder. 

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Community Swim Lesson

We frequently find that families with multiple children and a low income are unable to afford swim lessons. Because Long Beach is a beach city, it is crucial for the community to be water safe. Being water safe allows them to enjoy all opportunities in their community, such as boating and surfing. In addition, this could have an impact on the type of employment they
obtain later on in life.

Parents often decide that learning how to swim and being water safe is not as important as providing for their family. Despite efforts to keep our swim lessons affordable, we see the need to reduce the cost of the lesson even more. The scholarships make the swim lesson more affordable, and families are more inclined to sign up. When the City of Long Beach was able to provide swim lesson scholarships through grant funding in years past, we were able to increase our swim lesson participation and reach families that needed the assistance the most. Thus, this grant would help alleviate any cost-related obstacles for the Long Beach community and would allow additional community members to sign up for swim lessons.

Community Swim Lesson

Consisting of Parent and Child Aquatics, Preschool Aquatics, Learn to Swim and Adult Swim, the purpose of the program is to teach individuals of all ages and varying abilities to be comfortable and safer in, on and around the water.

The City with its limited resources tries to provide as many lessons as possible to the families of the Imperial Valley. With this grant we hope to provide these opportunities to other families that need assistance. We estimate that 55 additional people would benefit from the Learn to Swim program by receiving this funding.

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Drowning Prevention Program

The City of Long Beach operates three year-round aquatic facilities and focuses on providing learn-to-swim lessons for all ages. Although summer is the most popular time to enjoy aquatic swim lessons, the City of Long Beach stresses the importance of being water safe all year-round. With our upcoming summer session, we are looking to provide swim lessons to over 700 youths ages 6-17 years old. The City of Long Beach will use this grant funding to increase the number of swim lesson instructors, which will increase the number of swim lessons offered this summer.

Drowning Prevention Program

Our Agency despite having a limited time with a pool, tries to provide as many swim lessons and aquatic camps as possible. The City continues to provide Lifeguard and WSI training and certifications to both public and staff members in order to provide a safer environment in and around the water. With this grant it will help with equipment for both programs and staff trainings. Along with the City's aquatic programs, the city provides other activities and events at the pool for the day camp programs and public and without our aquatic program and aquatic staff the city wouldn't be able to offer as much in the limited time.