Washington, DC

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Members Attending: Michele Mount, Amy Heinzen, Jeanne Johnson, Amy Edwards, Allan Buchanan, Diana Dias, Tim Murphy, Carole Guzzetta, Sherri Cannon, Barbara Birkenshaw, Lorrie Walker, Bob Wall, Tess Benham, Jennifer Huebner, Marilyn Bull, Norraine Wingfield, Lynn Ware, Carol Helminski, Kerry Chausmer, Janet Brooks

Members Not Present: Mike James, Thomas Vilt, Tracey Hewitt, Wanda Vasquez

Guest(s) Present: Mary Ellen Laister

Welcome and Introductions:

Board Chair Michele Mount welcomed the board members and introduced her guest, Mary Ellen Laister, incoming International President of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. Board members present introduced themselves, providing their affiliation and their role on the board.

Update: Certification

Kerry Chausmer reported. The certification website has changed to http://cert.safekids.org. Approximately 8,900 technicians were trained last year. She requested board feedback regarding three items:

1. Auto-Approval of Seat Checks by Instructors
2. Reasonable Complaints regarding Technician Access to Instructors
3. Recertification Fee Discount for Instructors

Discussion/Action Items:

• Board discussed if the two week automatic approval of seat check feature is still needed by instructors. The feature automatically approves seat checks in the system after 14 days. Board agreed that this feature is no longer needed. The certification program will have this feature removed. Seat checks would remain listed as pending until instructor action is taken to approve or deny it. The certification program will email all instructors to inform them of the change.
• Board provided feedback from their constituents regarding technician's ability to access an instructor for seat check signoffs. In past years, 10-12 complaints were received regarding inability to access an instructor. It was reported that in rural areas of many states that access to an instructor is still limited. In some states, instructors will travel to meet technicians at a convenient location or at a scheduled events; other states will use technician proxy. Since this issue is being addressed at the state level, no national attention at this time is needed, the certification program will continue to monitor.
• The certification program is considering a discount on the recertification fee for instructors who teach over a certain number of hours to be determined. The discount would be automatically calculated if an instructor taught a pre-determined number of hours. Board discussed that this would be a great way to recognize/reward instructors who teach a lot.

Update: NHTSA

Carole Guzzetta reported.

• NTSHA has a new administrator Mr. David Strickland. Mr. Strickland is well versed in all of NHTSA's transportation safety issues. An invitation will be extended to Mr. Strickland to attend a CPS technician training to become certified. NTSHA also has a new deputy administrator, Ronald Meford. He was previously the acting deputy administrator and is also very knowledgeable.
• Operations Kids Next Generation, a basic awareness course for law enforcement personnel, child care providers, fire & rescue personnel, etc.) is in the final stages of development. Two pilots of the course have been held. It is scheduled for possible release later this spring. Lorrie Walker offered time to announce it at LifeSavers, which would be a very appropriate venue.
• The Voluntary Fit program is slowly moving through the NHTSA approval process. Voluntary Fit is a consumer information program that helps consumers identify what seats can be used with what vehicles.
• The curriculum revision has been delayed, in part due to delay with the vendor and in part because of NHTSA.

Update: NHTSA Regions

Sherri Cannon reported.

• NHTSA is updating the Child Safety Seat Inspection Station Locator section of the NHTSA website. It will be more user-friendly, but the data on inspection stations is not as accurate as they would like. NHTSA is looking at developing an electronic system that would hopefully eliminate the errors. Part of the problem is tracking when locations expire, they are exploring a system with the ability to send 60-day and 30-day notices prior to the expiration of an inspection station. If no action is taken, this will trigger removal of the expired location. Also on the new NHTSA website, there will be a "Child Safety Seat Inspection Station Locator" button on the top corner of each webpage.
• National CPS Week is scheduled for week of September 19 – 25, 2010. Seat Check Saturday will be September 25th.

Committee Reports

Certification/Recertification

Bob Wall reported. Committee reported on accomplishments of past two years. It identified the need to be more active regarding certification and recertification. Most of the work has been done by state cps programs and the certification program.

Discussion/Action Items:

• There has been an issue with CEUs and technician's requests for pre-approval of workshops before submitting recertification paperwork. Kerry explained that the pre-approval is only for peace of mind — it is not required. The technicians only need to have proof of attendance and the agenda. Technicians can utilize Certification Help Line 877-366-8154 or the online FAQs at http://cert.safekids.org/faq.html.
• Committee requested for volunteers to overhaul the three CEU PowerPoints. The following board members volunteered to review and revise the following PowerPoints by April 15, 2010.
• Allan Buchanan — "Fact or Fiction"
• Diana Dias — "Booster & Air Bags."
• Amy Edwards — "New Child Restraints."

Communication

Tess Benham reported. Included in board member packets is report prepared by Tech Update editorial staff. A report on website usage was discussed at the January board meeting. Committee reported on accomplishments of past three years. The board website continues to be enhanced with greater use of the restricted access areas of the board website. A new technician restricted area was added this past year for technicians to download the Community Outreach Kit.

Curriculum

Lorrie Walker reported. Committee reviewed accomplishments of past three years. The major accomplishment was the development of the new curriculum and rollout. More than 150 instructors and technicians participated in field reviews and provided feedback to the committee. A curriculum specialist helped design and test the curriculum. The whole board was involved in the rollout and helped to promote it at Lifesavers and other conferences.

Discussion/Action Items:

• Committee continues to responsive to feedback from technicians and instructors. The committee reviewed feedback and updated the curriculum in Summer 2009. It is undergoing NHTSA review.
• A new resource for instructors is the Abbey the CPS Technician video. NHTSA purchased the rights for Instructor use of the video with the curriculum. It will be included on the curriculum update CD.
• All instructors will get a CD and hard copy of the replacement pages.
• The Clicker System resource was purchased for state CPS programs. The clickers are not fully utilized in classes. Webinar classes were offered last Fall on how to use the clickers. One more class is available on the contract. Secretariat will explore offering another webinar.

Diversity

Lorrie Walker reported on behalf of Wanda Vasquez. She reported on committee accomplishments include posting of line art that identifies various car seat parts. Multi-lingual technicians provided translation of the parts in a variety of languages.

Membership

Michele Mount reported on behalf of Mike James. The committee continued to refine the application process with posting application and instruction on the Board website and conducting telephone interviews with board candidates. The board also revised by-laws to create an officer succession process where instead of serving two years as chair, the vice chair service one year and then becomes the chair for one year. A new notification process was developed where the membership committee notifies prospective board members in writing of the outcome of their board application.

Discussion/Action Items:

• Kathleen Studnicka has resigned from the board as the CPS Advocate. Board process is to notify applicants for this position from last round of submissions (2008) and invite them to apply for the vacant position. The Secretariat will prepare a list of people who applied for the CPS advocate position in 2008.
• Committee will also need to develop a plan to fill the National Nursing position.

Quality Assurance

Janet Brooks reported. Chair reminded board members that at least one member of every other committee should sit on this committee. Committee accomplishments include developing terminology was developed for advocating for longer rear facing — "Rear Facing Quotables."

Discussion/Action Items:

• Committee conducted a survey of all new techs with a July/October certification date (1,400 techs). The results will be published in the Tech Update. Another survey will possibly be conducted with instructors.
• Secretariat will purchase a copy of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised for the new chair of Quality Assurance committee.

Special Needs

Dr. Marilyn Bull reported.

Discussion/Action Items:

• Dr. Bull worked on AAP Car Safety Seats Guide for Families. She was an AAP board reviewer for the document.
• AAP's policy on selecting and using car safety seats will be revised in 2010.

Old Business:

Conflict of Interest Policy

The Board discussed adoption of a conflict of interest policy at the February board conference call. Bob Wall presented an overview of sample conflict interest statements included in the board packets. A draft Conflict of Interest Policy was reviewed by board members.

Discussion/Action Items:

• A motion was made by Bob Wall to adopt the proposed policy "Conflict of Interest Policy for the National Child Passenger Safety Board." Motion was seconded by Carol Helminski. Board discussed the draft policy. The board voted to adopt the policy as amended with the removal of a sentence regarding fundraising. The motion passed unanimously.

Recognition of Outgoing Board Members

Michele Mount reported that former Secretariat Deborah Trombley was recognized on March 2nd 2010 at a National Safety Council event. Michele Mount and Lorrie Walker attended by phone to present a plaque to Deb for her contributions to the board and her work to develop the new curriculum.

Carole Guzzetta recognized the contributions of the outgoing board members: Mike James, Thomas Vilt, Michele Mount and Janet Brooks. A plaque was presented by Carole to Michele Mount and Janet Brooks in attendance. A letter and plaque will be mailed to those outgoing board members who were unable to attend the meeting.

The official business of the board was concluded with the passing of the gavel from Michele Mount to Lorrie Walker as the new Chair.

Lorrie Walker adjourned the board meeting at 2:45 pm to convene the scheduled Board strategic planning session