In Sonoma County, our parks are treasured by families. Research by Family Action of Sonoma County's Parent Leadership Project finds our parks in relatively good condition but suggests improvements which will make parks safer and more enjoyable for children and families.

Playground and park safety is an issue of national concern. According to the National Program for Playground Safety, 200,000 American children a year suffer injuries on parks and playgrounds that are serious enough to require a trip to the emergency room. The most common serious injuries are broken bones. For children four and younger, almost 60 percent of the injuries involve the face or brain. The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that nearly 70 percent of all playground injuries are related to falls to the surface. It is estimated that 40 percent of playground injuries are related to inadequate supervision. Family Action offers the results of its parks survey to suggest policy and maintenance changes that can reduce the incidence of injury and increase the pleasure citizens of this county receive from their parks.

Family Action's Parent Leadership Project developed a ten-point parks and playground safety checklist and then visited and assessed 30 parks throughout the county. In addition, the project interviewed 30 park users to determine what specifically Sonoma County citizens considered the benefits of park usage to be, and what needed improvement. Based upon the information gathered and interviews with citizens and recreation staff, the Parent Leadership Project lists a number of important findings about park safety and presents ten recommendations to improve the state of our parks.

• Recreation is essential to the healthy development of our children and youth: children develop motor skills, creativity, and enhance social and other life skills through play.

• Recreation services and parks build strong families and communities.

• Safe and well maintained parks are a source of pride in a community.

• Play structures are, in general, safely designed and installed to guard against injury: 90% of play structures visited had appropriate extension of surfacing under structures and adequate spacing between rails to ensure against entrapment of children. 84% of structures were placed far enough away from potentially dangerous objects.

• Park users value the "beauty" of Sonoma County's parks: Survey participants repeatedly noted that they enjoyed the opportunity to have free access to beautiful spaces for their children to play. Park users often stated that parks were well maintained. They particularly liked the provision of shade trees and benches near play equipment.

• Broken glass in parks is a problem: 33% of the parks reviewed had unsafe materials such as glass in the surface material (i.e. sand, rubber) under the play area. 30% of park users surveyed noted broken glass as a problem.

• Many structures lack adequate depth of surface materials under play areas: 40% of parks reviewed did not have a safe depth of surface material under play areas.

• Many restrooms are not adequately maintained: 43% of parks reviewed had problems with restrooms including unsanitary conditions, lack of toilet paper and soap, wet floors, and missing stall doors. Many parks had no restroom facilities or running water. At several parks, restrooms were locked during hours most families use the parks.

• Water drainage is a problem in many parks: 33% of parks reviewed had persistent water drainage problems resulting in areas of mud and standing water in and around play equipment.

• Alcohol use in parks is disturbing: 26% of park users voiced their concern about the level of alcohol use in the parks.

• Other observed problems were dangerous hardware, sharp points or edges on play equipment, lack of benches and shade, garbage overflow, lack of telephones and parking.

• Cities should develop or improve upon existing written policies for the maintenance, modification and acquisition of playground equipment. These policies should require regular evaluations of parks and playgrounds and provide for adequate maintenance.

• Ban the use of glass containers in all parks or properly enforce existing bans. Survey results indicate that parks with a posted ban on glass had significantly fewer occurrences of broken glass.

• Adequately maintain restrooms and provide port-a-potties where bathrooms are unavailable.

• Provide running water in all parks, which is necessary for drinking and quick washing of injuries.

• Provide benches near play equipment, ideally in a shaded area.

• Where trees are not full grown, provide some form of artificial shade.

• Provide ample trash containers with lids and regular pickup.

• Park users can assist by carefully picking up glass and debris. Contact the appropriate agency if the problem persists.

• When planning for new parks, agencies should provide opportunities for wide community input and buy-in from a cross section of ages and income groups, organizations and businesses.

• Cities should encourage better coordination with schools regarding development of new parks in order to maximize resources.

• Encourage community and business involvement in parks, such as an "adopt-a-park" program.

• Encourage parents to take responsibility for assessing playground safety and reporting potential problems to recreation departments.

Sonoma County abounds with beautiful spaces and many excellent parks and playgrounds. The recommendations mentioned in this report are aimed at inspiring changes that will ensure the safety and enjoyment of our children when using these facilities. Parents and the community must also do their part in working with parks and recreation departments to ensure park safety and provide innovative ideas to foster community support to improve our parks.