| | | | | Upcoming Holiday Hours Please note the change in schedule for customer service for the upcoming holidays. - Thursday, December 30, 2021 – 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
- Friday, December 31, 2021 – Closed
We will respond to all emails and voicemails within 24 hours after each holiday. Happy Holidays! | | | | | Safe Kids Worldwide Certification Team Update We are excited to announce that Cassandra (Cass) Herring will assume the role of Child Passenger Safety (CPS) Certification Technical Advisor effective December 30, 2021. Cass is succeeding Beth Warren, whose last day at Safe Kids will be December 30, 2021. We are grateful to Beth for her time, commitment and passion for child passenger safety and we wish her the best in her future endeavors. Cass has extensive experience working in the fields of child passenger safety and injury prevention, particularly with rural, tribal and underserved populations. A technician for more than eight years, Cass has a wealth of knowledge working at the state coalition and government levels and managing federal grants at the State Highway Safety Office. The Safe Kids team is here to help with all your recertification, course management and other certification-related needs. Below you will find a quick guide to help you know who to contact for specific questions or assistance. If you need help with: - Technical content and questions, understanding Certification policies and procedures, contact Cass Herring at certadvisor@safekids.org.
- Recertification, managing a course, or paying a fee (roster issues), contact Wardell Bonner at cpscert@safekids.org or 202-875-6330.
- Pre-approvals for CEUs, technician proxy applications, instructor candidacy applications, Nursing Continuing Education credits, contact Stephanie Heitsch at sheitsch@safekids.org.
- General certification questions or feedback, contact Shushanna Mignott at smignott@safekids.org.
- Audit questions, contact Debbie Landoskey at cpsaudit@safekids.org.
The team looks forward to continuing to work with you and support you in all that you do in the field to keep kids safe! We want to hear from you so please reach out to us if you have concerns or feedback that you would like to share. | | | | | My profile shows 98% complete, what do I still need to finish? A common question we receive sounds something like this: “My understanding was that if I did the seat check alternative plus an additional 6 CEU’s that I would be at 100% and I would be able to pay my recertification fee. Instead, it is showing that I am at 98%. What do I have to do to get to 100%?” Here is what you need to do to recertify/record the activities in your online profile: - Conduct all five required seat checks or the equivalent CEU alternatives.
- Earn at least six continuing education units (CEUs). As part of ongoing quality assurance, you may be randomly selected for a CEU audit. Keep proof of content and completion of CEUs handy for three months after you recertify. You can monitor your audit status in your online profile.
- Participate in at least one community education (checkups, community workshop, educational session)
The missing piece to hit 100% from the 98% is usually the community education requirement. Participating in at least one community event (education) is required for recertification for both technicians and instructors. Don’t forget to add at least one to your CPS online profile. There are three kinds of community education that can count toward recertification. Recertifying technicians can choose to do either: Participate in a two-hour seat checkup event. Participate in a seat checkup event(s)/inspection station(s) for a minimum of 2 hours. At least one other CPS technician must be present. You must serve families by using any standardized checklist. You are welcome to combine different checkup events or appointments to meet the time requirement of two hours. OR Provide at least four hours of community education to people who are not CPS technicians. Examples include speaking about child passenger safety at birthing classes, PTA or EMS/law enforcement meetings, a preschool or Head Start program, or other parenting groups and organizations. Working at a health fair where you are primarily talking about CPS also qualifies for recertification. You are welcome to combine different presentations to meet the time requirement of four hours. For example, you can do eight 30-minute education sessions or four one-hour education sessions OR Attend a one hour (minimum) educational session(s), live or online. Examples include how to better reach community members or underserved communities, improve communication skills or instructor development and learning about other cultures and their beliefs in your community. Be safe and stay healthy! Submitted by Stephanie Heitsch, Certification Associate, Safe Kids Worldwide. (Port Orange, FL.) | | | Customer Service Voice Recording Update We are always seeking new ways to better serve you. We are pleased to share that we have recently updated and streamlined the customer service line recordings (202-875-6635) for an improved user experience. Although you will no longer hear the FAQs on the recording, you can still find them on our website cert.safekids.org to quickly find answers to some of the most popular questions. We look forward to continuing to serve you in 2022. Submitted by Shushanna Mignott, Program Director, Safe Kids Worldwide, Washington, DC | | | Tips & Behind the Scenes Happy Holidays and thank you for all you do as Child Passenger Safety Technicians to keep kids safe. In this issue of the CPS Express, we are celebrating the holidays by celebrating YOU!! Read these tips and behind the scenes stories from your fellow technicians and instructors. Do you have a helpful tip or story to share? Email your comments to cpscert@safekids.org to be included in future editions of the CPS Express. Again, thank you for all you do and wishing you all the best in 2022! | | | | | Tips to Tell “I became certified 16 years ago, but just started recently adding this tip to my education with caregivers and have found it very helpful when guiding them to install their car seat and harness their child correctly. I help them imagine their vehicle in a rollover crash –rolling over 8 times – and remind them we would want the child to stay harnessed in the seat and the seat to stay in the vehicle. I compare the experience to them on a rollercoaster that goes upside down and I remind them how secure they would want to feel on that roller coaster. I tell them to think of that every time they place their child in the seat.” Cher Philio, CPST, Ormond Beach, FL “My tip to tell is 2-fold: #1: Meet families where they are. If they know nothing or they have researched all things CPS. Meet them where they are and work from there. #2: Never stop learning in this field - there is always something new coming out. We never know everything and going in with a mindset you never will is humbling.” Kelly Llewellyn, CPST, Hagerstown, MD | | | | | Behind the Scenes: Why did I become a CPST? “I was a career NICU nurse in a state that gives out car seats to anyone who needs them, but does not see the value in teaching people how to use them. There were fewer than 10 CPSTs in the entire western half of our state. I spent several years trying to convince our local leaders and healthcare administrators that education is the key to safety for our children. Our state has the most relaxed child passenger safety laws in the country. I finally realized that I just needed to bite the bullet and get certified. So, I invited my daughter to take a road trip with me to Minnesota and we both took the certification class. We live in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and we volunteer our services for the people in our area. We also volunteer for the Black Hills Pregnancy Center to provide free car seats and education to the families they serve. In the past two years we have given out approximately 80 free car seats and helped well over 200 families with inspections/installations. We think it's been worth it.” Sue and Erin Jarvis, CPSTs, Rapid City, SD “In 2006 I was on duty and a mother stopped in asking for assistance with installing her car seat. Naturally I said sure. I had three little ones, so I helped. The word must have gotten out and we had several others looking for assistance too. We helped. The question arose of training. As a Fire District, we thought we needed a Car Seat Program and to be properly trained to do so. I reached out to Safe Kids St. Louis and was referred to Kim Fanter. Kim actually lived in our district. I reach out to Kim, she was very professional, and she was able to set the High Ridge Car Seat Program in motion. In 2007 we produced our first group of CPS Technicians, and we were on our way - 14 years later we are still going strong. A huge Thank You to Kim Fanter and the Safe Kids St. Louis staff for always being there supporting us.” Roger Coleman, CPST, High Ridge, MO “I became a CPS Tech two years ago when I worked with Hillsboro Fire. As a firefighter, I have seen many wrecks involving children, including wrecks where children were not properly belted in their car seats. I took the CPS Tech class to educate the people in my community on how to properly install and belt in their children in their car seats. While at Hillsboro Fire Protection District I started a program where once a year we would schedule with the daycares to come by during pick up time and offer parents to check their children's car seats. I would say 80% would let us and many of them were not belted correctly. I have recently begun a new career at Rock Community Fire Protection District as a Public Education Specialist and plan to bring the same program to the Arnold community. We also plan to set up events throughout the year at local community events to check car seats as well.” Stephanie Jackson, CPST, Arnold, MO | | | | | | Online Courses A variety of continuing education webinars, to fulfill both the CEU requirement as well as seat check alternatives, are available online and free of charge. Learn more. Community Education webinars, which can fulfill your Community Education requirements or be used as teaching hour alternatives, are also available online at cpsboard.org. | | | Upcoming Safe Kids Webinars Safe Kids is now using Zoom webinars. If you are not able to use Zoom or miss one, most webinars are recorded and posted on the CPS Board website. Fact-Checking Backless Boosters and Side Airbags Thursday, Jan 6, 2022 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET (1 CEU) Register Now Goodbaby International: Product Update, Spring 2022 Thursday, May 5, 2022 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET (1 CEU) Register Now More coming soon! Announcements will be in the CPS Express and on our Facebook page. | | | | | | For Instructors Reminder: Recert alternatives are still an option! Safe Kids Worldwide understands that the ability for instructors earn 20 teaching hours for recertification may still not be feasible due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The good news is that the recertification alternatives are still a great option for you to remain certified. If you have not earned your required hours, you can choose from the series of specially marked Community Education webinars available on the CPS Board website to complete this requirement. Please review the changes to the Recertification Policy for more details. We also have a COVID-19 Recertification Policy FAQ document and step by step instructions (video and PDF) available. | | | | | Questions? Comments? Concerns? Safe Kids Worldwide CPS Certification 1255 23rd Street NW, Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20037 CPScert@safekids.org Phone: 202-875-6330 Ideas and Article Submissions Advocates and manufacturers are welcome to submit articles, or suggestions for articles, to the CPS Express! Send your ideas and submissions to cpscert@safekids.org. All submissions may be edited for content and length. | | | | | | | | | | |