CPS Technician Occupant Protection Community Outreach Kit

Protecting Our Children and Youth —
The Life-Saving Benefits of Child Safety Seats, Boosters, and Seat Belts

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Child
Passenger Safety Board are pleased to provide this outreach kit to support the
many CPS Technicians who volunteer their time to promote occupant protection.
We hope the kit will encourage you to expand and renew your commitment to
keeping children safe when they ride in motor vehicles.

The kit features an adaptable module for making 15-, 30-, and 45-minute
presentations on occupant protection to parents, caregivers, and other adult
community members. The module design uses a simple presentation technique in which the presenter explains key information as participants read along from a
packet of one-page handouts. The presentation addresses —

• What happens to drivers and passengers when a crash occurs
• The different types of child safety seats and the 4 Steps for Kids approach to using them and seat belts
• The need for the correct use of child safety seats and seat belts
• The role that parents (and caregivers) can play in making seat belt use a lifelong habit for children
  

KIT DESIGN AND CONTENTS

Kit materials are designed for easy copying and formatted for placement in a
three-ring binder. The contents of the kit fall into two major sections. The first
section includes the presentation module and the handouts. The second section contains support materials designed to help you prepare for and publicize your presentation. Descriptions of the contents of the kit, including the length of each, follow:

SECTION I — PRESENTATION MODULE AND HANDOUTS

• Protecting Our Children and Youth — The Life-Saving Benefits of Child Safety Seats, Boosters, and Seat Belts (17 pages): Based on content from the CPS Technician training manual, the purpose of the presentation is to increase awareness of the life-saving benefits of all occupant protection devices and the critical role parents, caregivers, and all adults play in making children lifelong seat belt users.

• Handouts (14 pages): Key information from the presentation is included in a packet of handouts that participants refer to during the presentation. Participants keep the packet and are encouraged to share it with others.

SECTION 2 — SUPPORT MATERIALS

• Guidelines for Making Community Presentations (3 pages): These guidelines contain tips for making effective presentations and
  suggestions on managing the presentation environment.
  
• Integrating Community Presentations Into Your Occupant Protection Volunteer Activities (6 pages): This piece provides a framework for including community presentations as part of your outreach activities, identifies steps for developing a plan to publicize the presentations, and contains sample promotional materials.
  
• Coordinating Community Presentations With Other Efforts To Promote Occupant Protection (2 pages): Community presentations reinforce other occupant protection communications and outreach activities. This information describes how to coordinate community presentations with activities undertaken during Click It or Ticket campaigns and National Child Passenger Safety Week.
  
• Reaching Groups With Low Occupant-Protection-Use Rates (4 pages): This information will help you understand the messages that different groups find most appealing. Use it to tailor the explanations and comments you include in your presentations. It also can help you identify groups and organizations that might be interested in hosting a presentation.

FEEDBACK FORM

After making a presentation, please share your experiences by filling out the online feedback form. We will use your feedback and suggestions to create articles about making community presentations for CPS Express and to enhance the kit.

ACCESS TO THE OUTREACH KIT AND FEEDBACK FORM

All currently certified Technicians and Instructors can gain access to the Outreach Kit and Feedback Form through the Technician or Instructor Downloads (CPS Board) action item in their CPS online profiles on the Safe Kids CPS Certification website.