2024 National CPS Awards

Technician of the Year

In Montezuma County, Colorado, one name is synonymous with car seat safety: Delilah Darland.

She is the WIC supervisor and lead car seat technician for Montezuma County Public Health. She is also the recipient of the National Child Passenger Safety Technician of the Year award, presented by the National Child Passenger Safety Board. The award is sponsored by Toyota Motor North America.

Darland was selected based on the following criteria:

• Commitment to education: She makes herself available to assist parents and caregivers learning to install car seats for the first time. She plays videos to help them understand the process and rolls up her sleeves during hands-on demonstrations, too.
• Commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion: She maintains connections with local organizations, such as the women and children’s shelter, and encourages local tribal members, Hispanic, Asian and LGBTQ+ parents and caregivers to reach out when in need of support. This commitment enabled her to touch more than 350 families through public outreach events, individual appointments and car seat checkups in 2023.

“Anyone who knows Delilah will tell you she goes above and beyond,” National Child Passenger Safety Board Chair Jim Savage said. “She is passionate. Her dedication to child passenger safety is undeniable. She believes in the over-arching mission of all technicians, preventing unnecessary injuries to children. We’re proud to recognize her for work during this last year – and really for her work these last two decades.”

To learn more about Delilah and her dedication to child passenger safety, download this Technician of the Year press release.

Instructor of the Year

In July 2023, Danielle Kessenger gave birth to her new baby, Silver Linings Safety, a limited liability company with a focused mission: to develop or revitalize Child Passenger Safety programs at public and private service agencies in north Florida and southeast Georgia.

Kessenger, already the mother of three grown children and the grandmother of little Landon, 5, launched Silver Linings as a pathway for greater access to CPS Technician certification training courses and to open another advocate avenue for the safe transportation of all children. She is recognized today for her leadership as the National Child Passenger Safety Instructor of the Year. The award is presented by the National Child Passenger Safety Board and sponsored by Toyota Motor North America.

“Danielle is known as an excellent educator and a person who sees a challenge and finds a solution,” National Child Passenger Safety Board Chair Jim Savage said. “She gets the ‘volun-told’ students in her classes excited about child passenger safety. Equally important, she is the kind of person who sends everyone she interacts with home with a small piece of her heart. She is a mentor and a friend to CPS Techs and Instructors as well as to all of the parents and caregivers she has touched throughout the years.”

To learn more about Danielle and her dedication to child passenger safety, download this Instructor of the Year press release.

Team of the Year

If you’re not sure what a “can-do” attitude looks like, then you haven’t met the child passenger safety team at Safe Kids Western North Carolina.

The team is headed by two Child Passenger Safety Technician Instructors: Beverly Hopps and Vickie Killough. After a recent Instructor meeting six hours from their home office and still staring at a long ride home, the two arranged for team members to meet a family in the hotel parking lot where they were gathered. Beverly, Vickie and others jumped to assist with an adaptive restraint for a child. No questions asked.

That’s one example of how they “can” and “do” serve parents and caregivers in 16 primarily rural counties with populations ranging from 8,000 to 300,000. Child poverty rates rank above the state average in 13 of those counties. Their service-over-self mantra is another reason why Safe Kids Western North Carolina is saluted today as the National Child Passenger Safety Team Year. The award is presented by the National Child Passenger Safety Board and sponsored Toyota Motor North America.

“It has been said that a successful team is one of many hands and one mind,” National Child Passenger Safety Board Chair Jim Savage said. “That’s exactly how you would describe this team. They’ve been in the safety business for more than 20 years. They continue to seek out new partners and find new ways to deliver CPS education. They are to be applauded.”

To learn more about Safe Kids Western North Carolina’s dedication to child passenger safety, download this Team of the Year press release.

2024 National CPS Awards

Download and share: Here is the full list of 2024 CPS awards winners and nominees.

Sponsors

The 2024 National CPS Awards are presented by the National Child Passenger Safety Board and sponsored by Toyota Motor North America. For more information about Toyota, visit  https://www.toyota.com/usa/