Introduction to Child Passenger Safety Programs

Kate Bernacki, M.P.H.

Coordinator, Vehicle Occupant Safety ProgramSafe and Active Communities BranchCalifornia Department of Public Health

August 2014

VOSP strives to prevent injuries and deaths to children 0-16 years old in California by increasing the use, and correcting misuse, of child safety seats, booster seats, and seat belts.

Staff Kate Bernacki, M.P.H., CoordinatorClaudia Angel, Administration

California Department of Public HealthSafe and Active Communities Branch

Vehicle Occupant Safety Program (VOSP)

California Department of Public HealthSafe and Active Communities Branch

Vehicle Occupant Safety Program (VOSP)

California Has An Unique Child Passenger Safety (CPS) Law

CPS Law Structure

• VC 27360.6 identifies the fines and penalties.

• $100 base fine (Ticket = $475+).

• A CPS Coordinator is identified at each CA County Health Department.

• The State is mandated to list all county-based CPS services, which is in “Who’s Got Car Seats?” and VOSP updates annually.

Vehicle Codes (VC)

Primary Enforcement• 27360 – child restraint system from 0 to 8

years in the rear seat (exemption for child restraint system of 4’9”, and rear seat position if all the seating positions are filled, both which are listed under exemptions in VC 27363)

• 27360.5 – child restraint system or seat belt from 8 years to 16 years to be properly restrained (with definition of proper restraint listed under VC 27315)

• 15620 – prohibits leaving unattended child under age seven in a vehicle where a significant risk to the child’s health and safety is present or when keys are left in the ignition or the car is running

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California Child Passenger Safety (CPS) Laws

CPS Vehicle Code (VC) 27315 http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc27315.htm

CPS VC 27360 series http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/tocd12c5a3_3.htm

VC 27360 (0-7 years) http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc27360.htm

VC 27360.5 (8-16 years) http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc27360_5.htm

CPS VC 27360.6 – Penalties and Fines http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc27360_6.htm 27360.6. (a) (1) For a conviction under Section 27360 or 27360.5, a first offense is punishable by a fine of one hundred dollars ($100), except that the court may reduce or waive the fine if the defendant establishes to the satisfaction of the court that he or she is economically disadvantaged, and the court, instead, refers the defendant to a community education program that includes, but is not limited to, education on the proper installation and use of a child passenger restraint system for children of all ages, and provides certification to the court of completion of that program. Upon completion of the program, the defendant shall provide proof of participation in the program. If an education program on the proper installation and use of a child passenger restraint system is not available within 50 miles of the residence of the defendant, the requirement to participate in that program shall be waived . If the fine is paid, waived, or reduced, the court shall report the conviction to the department pursuant to Section 1803. (2) The court may require a defendant described under paragraph (1) to attend an education program that includes demonstration of proper installation and use of a child passenger restraint system and provides certification to the court that the defendant has presented for inspection a child passenger restraint system that meets applicable federal safety standards.(b) (1) A second or subsequent conviction under Section 27360 or 27360.5 is punishable by a fine of two hundred fifty dollars ($250), no part of which may be waived by the court, except that the court may reduce or waive the fine if the defendant establishes to the satisfaction of the court that he or she is economically disadvantaged, and the court, instead refers the defendant to a community education program that includes, but is not limited to, education on the proper installation and use of child passenger restraint systems for children of all ages, and provides certification to the court of completion of that program. Upon completion of the program, the defendant shall provide proof of participation in the program. If an education program on the proper installation and use of a child passenger restraint system is not available within 50 miles of the residence of the defendant, the requirement to participate in that program shall be waived. If the fine is paid, waived, or reduced, the court shall report the conviction to the department pursuant to Section 1803.

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California Child Passenger Safety (CPS) Laws

CPS VC 27360.6 – Penalties and Fines (continued)

(2) The court may require a defendant described under paragraph (1) to attend an education program that includes demonstration of proper installation and use of a child passenger restraint system and provides certification to the court that the defendant has presented for inspection a child passenger restraint system that meets applicable federal safety standards.(c) Notwithstanding any other law, the fines collected under this section shall be allocated as follows:(1) (A) Sixty percent to health departments of local jurisdictions where the violation occurred, to be used for a community education and assistance program that includes, but is not limited to, demonstration of the proper installation and use of child passenger restraint systems for children of all ages and assistance to economically disadvantaged families in obtaining a restraint system through a low-cost purchase or loan. The county or city health department shall designate a coordinator to facilitate the creation of a special account and to develop a relationship with the court system to facilitate the transfer of funds to the program. The county or city may contract for the implementation of the program. Prior to obtaining possession of a child passenger restraint system pursuant to this subdivision, a person shall attend an education program that includes demonstration of proper installation and use of a child passenger restraint system.(B) As the proceeds from fines become available, county or city health departments shall prepare and maintain a listing of all child passenger restraint lowcost purchase or loaner programs in their counties, including a semiannual verification that all programs listed are in existence. Each county or city shall forward the listing to the Office of Traffic Safety in the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency and the courts, birthing centers, community child health and disability prevention programs, county clinics, prenatal clinics, women, infants, and children programs, and county hospitals in that county, who shall make the listing available to the public. The Office of Traffic Safety shall maintain a listing of all of the programs in the state.(2) Twenty-five percent to the county or city for the administration of the community education program .(3) Fifteen percent to the city, to be deposited in its general fund except that, if the violation occurred in an unincorporated area, this amount shall be allocated to the county for purposes of paragraph (1).

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• Low Cost Car Seat Program for economically disadvantaged community Free or low-cost seats Car Seats R Kid’s Stuff!

http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/Pages/CPSinCalifornia-VOSP.aspx

• CPS Community Education Classes   1-2 hours Video/hand-held device On location at Inspection Stations Include Violator Education Program Component http://cpsboard.org/  

• CPS Technician Trainings Certification trainings Re-certification: Renewal, Update http://cert.safekids.org/

CPS Coordinator manages local activities, that may include:Review VOSP CPS Implementation Guide -http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/injviosaf/traffic/Documents/ImplementationGuide.pdf

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• CPS Check Up Events/Fitting Station Safe Kids Coalition, Hospital,

Insurance Cos.

• Community Outreach and Education Media Partnerships, Coalitions Hospital/birth center CPS policy and

procedures

• CPS Violator Education Program Statewide Guidelines Include in Community Education

class Meet with Judge/Court

VOSP Statewide CPS Support• CPS Laws

– Vehicle Codes, Hospital and Insurance Codes, Hospital Policies

• CPS Program Components– County CPS Program Development, Educational Materials, Site Visits,

Roll Call video, Conviction Data (program evaluation)

• CPS Technician Training System– Instructor and Technician re/certification, Instructor stipends, CEU’s,

Additional trainings (CPS special needs, Instructor development)

• CA Violator Program Development– Class Guidelines, Court Outreach

• CPS Support/Information/Research– VOSP Webinar (quarterly), Who’s Got Car Seats?, VOSP Network

Emails, Funding Opportunities

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VOSP Educational Materials

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CPS Technician ProcessThis is the website with the CPS Technician certification information.  http://cert.safekids.org/  Go to the top right corner where it says “find a course” and bring up California (you don’t need to fill in all the boxes) and you will see the list of posted courses.   

– Once a person is a nationally trained CPS Certified Technician, the certification is good for two years.  • To recertify a technician is required (within the two years) to participate in 4 hours of a community education

event, complete 6 CEU’s (a variety of opportunities are available either in person or on line), and have all their seats checked off/evaluated by a CPS Instructor. 

• They will learn about their recertification requirements when they take the CPS Technician course.  • The recertification is very manageable time wise, but as with any professional certification, it’s good to plan in

advance and not leave the requirements to the last minute.  – CPS Board (and for other Technician resources) http://cpsboard.org/  with the Community Outreach Toolkit

http://cpsboard.org/restricted/techdownloads/PDF/CPSTech_OP_CommunityOutreachKit.pdf  – NHTSA CPS restraint recall list  http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchVehicles  or SafetyBeltSafe for

recall list (with paid membership, but they have other information on their website for free) http://www.carseat.org/

– VOSP supports CPS Technicians to become CPS Instructors, – VOSP financially supports CPS Instructors when they offer Technician related courses statewide.

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CPS Technician Training SystemTechnician/Instructor

CertificationSafe Kids Certification http://cert.safekids.org/

 

• CPS Technician Certification

– Profile online with Safe Kids

• CPS Technician Recertification

– CEU’s (Update class or online)

– Community Education– Seat Checks

• CPS Instructor – Candidate– Certification

• CPS Special Needs– Instructor Certification

VOSP Training Support•VOSP support for CPS Trainings (Technician, Update, Renewal, Special Needs, Instructor Development).•VOSP supports 1-3 instructors, after host organization pays for 1st instructor (e.g. for a 10 person class VOSP will support 1 instructor). A 1-5 instructor to student ratio.•VOSP provides a stipend of: $700 for a Lead Instructor, $600 for a Co-Instructor. •CPS Technician training course, 3-4 days.•POST credits for law enforcement for any CPS technician training is available through VOSP/CDPH.

VOSP Instructor Stipend: Short Form Contract•“Short Form Contracts” – includes a State form “STD 204” and SK Certification Instructor verification.•Needs to be completed 8 weeks before submitting a VOSP CPS Course Request Form. A total of 3 MONTHS before class, be in touch with VOSP to start contract process. •Short Form Contracts to be renewed every state fiscal year (July 1 – June 30). •Up to $4,999.00 each state fiscal year.

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Number of Instructors

Number of Technicians

North 17 233

Bay Area 42 810

Valley 13 224

South 50 640

Total 122 1,907

Number of CPS Instructors and Technicians by California Region October 2013

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CA 2003-2013 CPS Conviction Data

CALIFORNIA Vehicle Year Convictions Code 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013Kaitlyn's Law 15620 16 23 19 16 13 11 7 6 9 7 6

15620A 87 100 98 148 162 202 187 164 161 156 140Adult 27315 2,669 1,878 1,963 1,145 1,571 1,369 783 614 732 637 627

27315D 392,385 425,227 385,959 382,938 329,421 282,773 234,726 196,157 171,249 139,521 123,84527315E 42,335 49,895 58,762 64,322 62,825 59,962 56,574 71,279 46,618 40,039 33,90627315F 2,725 2,449 2,087 2,155 1,824 1,493 1,351 1,230 1,084 935 814

CPS 27360 268 144 176 193 194 178 127 113 87 87 8127360A 12,502 12,589 11,768 11,708 11,312 11,225 11,090 10,401 8,994 8,360 7,99127260B 1,672 1,714 1,595 1,567 1,656 1,670 2,153 2,153 1,394 1,034 778

CPS, 6-16 yo 27360.5 9,223 10,036 9,699 9,363 9,265 9,086 8,598 7,574 6,291 4,773 3,465

Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Occupant Protection Related Vehicle Codes, 2003-2013 on the VOSP website. For conviction tables for all CA counties, go to: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/injviosaf/Pages/DMVConvictionData.aspx

2003-2013 CPS Conviction DataContra Costa County

CONTRA COSTA 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

15620 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 015620A 10 8 7 9 10 18 19 11 11 7 10

27315 131 157 145 11 3 2 1 3 2 0 127315D 13,570 10,813 10,461 8,712 7,231 6,471 4,922 5,032 4,911 3,097 2,36727315E 1,377 1,136 1,305 1,213 1,025 1,146 837 922 1,883 869 61327315F 86 62 44 50 16 17 13 28 31 8 11

27360 44 34 26 23 32 21 9 4 11 3 1027360A 227 165 112 142 134 18 114 102 268 156 8627360B 37 26 27 17 26 32 26 25 28 13 1127360.5 223 173 171 145 145 128 132 83 128 90 55

CA CPS Violator Education Program Recommended Guidelines, 2005

Content is similar to CPS community education class

Covers VC 27360, 27360.5, 15620, 27315, 23116

CPS Technician supervises or teaches class Ratio of instructor to violators 1 to 15 CPS Technician checks car seat to see if it

has been recalled and is appropriate for the child

Low-cost car seat available if a new seat is needed

Certification of Completion for the courts 2 hours, plus checking seats Minimal cost for class

Purpose of Recommended

Guidelines Promote uniform

Violator Education Programs across the state

Encourage cross-county reciprocity

Provide a referral list to the courts

Resources VOSP SBS, “Family

Safety in the Car”http://www.carseat.org/

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Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Vehicle Occupant Safety Program (VOSP)

California Department of Public Health

Kate Bernacki, Coordinator(916) 552-9855 Kate.Bernacki@cdph.ca.gov

Claudia Angel, Administration(916) 552-9800 Claudia.Angel@cdph.ca.gov

On the web at http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/Pages/CPSinCalifornia-VOSP.aspx

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