Child Safety Expert Witness/Consultant

Debra Holtzman, J.D., M.A.

Debra is a nationally acclaimed child safety and health expert and an award-winning author.  With over two decades of experience in the safety and health fields, she is a leading authority on issues involving children: negligent supervision, accident prevention and safety, and standard of care.  She is also a certified child passenger safety technician.

Debra holds a B.A. in communications from the State University of New York at Albany, an M.A. in occupational health and safety from New York University and a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law, where she graduated in the top ten percent of her class. She is admitted to practice law in New York and Florida.

In addition to practicing law,  Debra has worked as an industrial safety and health consultant and has inspected numerous plants and factories  for hazardous working conditions and unsafe practices.

Debra was the Honorary Co-Chair of the Florida Safe Kids and teaches infant and toddler safety and CPR  classes.

Her books, The Safe Baby (Sentient Publications, Third edition, 2018, 2nd edition, 2009, and 1st edition, 2004) and The Panic-Proof Parent (McGraw-Hill, 2000), have received rave reviews and endorsements from leading parenting authorities and safety and health organizations. The Safe Baby won the National Parenting Publication Gold Award, one of the country’s most authoritative consumer-awards recognizing the best in children’s and parenting resources.

Debra served as a Subject Matter Expert for American Red Cross, Advanced Child Care Online-Training Course and Handbook (StayWell Publishing, April, 2014). Debra also served as Subject Matter Expert in the development of the most recent version of the American Red Cross’ Babysitting Basics course (released in April, 2013). She was responsible for thoroughly revising the course materials (including an online learning course, a participant handbook and videos.)

Debra co-wrote the script for the nationally distributed DVD program,  Safety Starts at Home: The Essential Childproofing Guide (InJoy Videos. 2012).  She also served as the Content Consultant for Scholastic Books, Rookie Read-About Safety, 2012 children’s book series:  Internet Safety; Bicycle Safety; Back-to-School Safety; Fire Safety; Never Go Anywhere With A Stranger; Car Safety

Debra has appeared on major TV news shows and radio shows around the world. She has been featured as a safety expert on NBC’s Today Show, Weekend Today, ABC World News, Dateline NBC, MSNBC, Associated Press Radio, NPR, Bloomberg News, Martha Stewart Living Radio, “You, The Owner’s Manual” hosted by Dr. Michael Roizen (who was regularly featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show), and Washington Post Radio, and in Dr. Oz, The Good Life, Parents Magazine,  CNN, People, Newsweek,  Parenting, Child, Family Circle,  Reader’s Digest, This Old House, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, America Online (AOL) Homepage, UPI, New York Times, Washington Times, Toronto Star, Washington Post,  USA Weekend Magazine and ABC News.  She also appeared weekly on the Discovery Health TV series, Make Room for Baby.