|
June 21, 2005
|
| Announcements & Notices |
|
Mail Bag
Please keep an eye out for letters and e-mails from PES, Proexam, and Professional Examination Service.
They are our contracted provider for CPS Customer Service and fulfillment.
Be sure to read the notices! Orphan Checks
Occasionally, we get “orphan” checks. These payments have no reference describing what the money is for.
Since we are not able to match the check with a technician or a course registration, we have to return it without processing. This may result in a technician missing his or her re-certification date or a candidate not being registered for a course.
Always include your check with your paper application. Please be sure all checks include descriptive information, such as your name, certification ID, Course ID or invoice number.
Seven Positions Open on the National CPS Board
The mission of the board is to maintain the quality and integrity of the National Standardized Child Passenger Safety Training Program (NSCPSTP). This program is used to train and certify child passenger safety (CPS) technicians and instructors.
The Board works collaboratively with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), who has the ultimate authority over the curriculum, and with the Certifying Body, who has ultimate authority over the certification and re-certification processes.
The application for membership and additional information are available on the CPS Board Web site. Complete applications must be received by July 29, 2005.
Submitted by Melissa Miles, National CPS Board (Bloomington, Ill.)
Re-Certification
Don’t Risk Your Certification by waiting until the last minute—You may re-certify up to four months before your certification expiration date.
- Seat checks may be logged at any time during your certification cycle and must be approved before you can register for re-certification.
- You must complete registration no later than your certification expiration date.
- Once your re-certification registration is processed, you will have 30 days to complete the online exam. The test does not have to be completed by your certification expiration date.
REMINDER: The re-certification exam is “open book”.
If your test is never started, inadvertently submitted or incomplete when the test period expires, it will be graded and you won’t get your money refunded.
|
| Just for Instructors |
|
Working with an Instructor Candidate?
Be sure he or she is officially listed as part of the instructor team. During the course setup, the names of instructors and instructor candidates are required. Approved instructor candidates must be added to the course as an instructor, with the type selected as “candidate.” Their CPST Certification ID is used for adding instructor candidates to the course.
Be sure to use the latest IC evaluation form (rev. 2/2005). Failing to do so this may delay or prohibit the individual’s receipt of instructor status.
Renewal Course
Have you tried to use your Certification Renewal Course CD and had a problem with the videos?
If you run the PowerPoint and none of the videos play, copy the module files and the individual video files to a new CD (no folders). The videos will run correctly within the modules.
Submitted by Boyd Tong, CPSTI (Indian Lake Estates, Fla.)
NOTE: All remaining Instructor Course Guides and CDs have been shipped. If you do not get a CD by June 25, and you are a certified instructor, please contact Kerry and request one. Please be sure to include your name, certification ID and mailing address.
|
| Just for Fun |
Are you a CPS Nerd? Test your knowledge!
This section of this newsletter highlights trivia and facts about child passenger safety. Please submit your ideas to Kerry Chausmer. Be sure to include how you would like your name to appear.
No submissions this month.
Share Your Knowledge!
Special Recognition
Just want to share with you an idea that I came up with for the Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Recognition Banquet here in Missoula. Deputy Pat Turner with the Missoula County Sheriff’s Department has been a certified CPS Instructor since 1998. He has decided to give himself a break and is not going to renew his CPS Instructor certification.
I had a heavy-duty locking clip engraved with his name, his instructor certification number and the dates of his certification. The cost for the engraving was only $5! You may want to recognize CPS Techs and Instructors in your communities by doing this also. It’s an inexpensive, yet very meaningful, token of appreciation. Who can forget mastering the skill of belt shortening???
Submitted by Lonie Hutchinson (Missoula, Mont.)
Non-certified persons can support CPS activities
Although certified technicians should be the only persons to provide parents with hands-on assistance with their child seats, non-certified persons can assist with a variety of support activities.
At checkup clinics and fitting stations, non-certified persons can assist as:
- Greeters
- Scribes
- Traffic coordinators
- Childcare helpers
Help in these areas enables certified technicians to have high-quality educational encounters with parents and caregivers. Most fitting-station roles are described in the NHTSA Guide to Implementing Child Passenger Inspection Stations, appendix B (Staffing).
Non-certified persons can also assist with CPS educational outreach efforts such as:
- Arranging for presentations and other events
- Conducting mail efforts and other mass communications projects
- Fundraising and advocacy
- Providing testimony, if they are crash survivors (this can be especially effective for legislative efforts)
The help of non-certified persons and volunteers greatly enhances CPS efforts. These activities also serve as a conduit for interested persons to become certified technicians. Some programs strongly encourage prospective technician candidates to volunteer at checkup clinics and fitting stations before enrolling in a course.
Submitted by: Johnny Humphreys (Austin, Texas)
New CSS Questionnaire Available
In case you haven’t seen it, NHTSA has updated their Child Safety Seat Questionnaire (also known as the Child Seat Complaint Form) and made it available to consumers on their Web site.
Consumers can download or print it to report potential problems, defects or incidents with child safety seats. While it includes Business Reply Mail postage, consumers may also fax completed forms to (202) 366-3171.
Of course, child restraint issues can also be reported to NHTSA through the Auto Safety Hotline (1-888-327-4236; 202-366-0123).
Submitted by Joe Colella (Mount Airy, MD)
|
| CPS Resources |
Sample Online Exam
SAFE KIDS realizes that it is a big step to move from a paper-based re-certification exam to an online format.
To help alleviate some questions and trepidation, a sample exam is available for those who would like to become familiar with the online testing process. It is a 10-question multiple-choice exam, and the format is identical to the 100-question re-certification exam.
To access the sample exam, follow these steps:
1. Go to http://www.testrac.com/ttonline.
2. Click on “Create an Account” and fill out the form.
3. Select “Take an assessment/certification exam.”
4. Then you will see a Demonstration Exam.
5. Click “start” to take this exam.
In addition to the sample exam, an online exam help guide specifically designed for the CPS certification exam is available. This guide should answer all of your questions about the online testing procedure.
Find this information on our Web site under RESOURCES.
|
| Featured Frequently Asked Question |
How are certification expiration dates assigned?
For individuals that originally certified with AAA, the system was a bit different that the one now utilized by Safe Kids.
From what we can tell, the certification start date was neither used nor collected by AAA. The certification expiration date was assigned as the first day of the month following the last day of the course plus one year (two years beginning in February 2003), regardless of when the paperwork was actually processed.
For example, if the course ended on June 15, 2001, that individual’s expiration date would have been July 1, 2002. This would have been true whether the application was processed in June 2001, giving the person a 12 month certification or in September 2001, effectively issuing a nine month certification.
When Safe Kids became the certifying body, we had to automatically assign certification start dates for everyone in the system. These were based upon a person’s (then) current expiration date.
For technicians and new instructors certifying through Safe Kids, there is a slight difference. Due to the automated nature of much of the system, we have the ability to process each application as it comes in and is completed. The start date of a certification is based upon the date that the certification ID is assigned. IDs are only assigned once all paperwork and payment has been completed. The benefit of this method is that everyone is guaranteed a full two-year certification period. The down side is that the expiration date could be ANY day of the month, making it more difficult for some people to remember it.
Technicians are encouraged to check their online profile to verify their certification expiration dates and make plans to register (must have seats logged and verified) by that date to remain eligible for re-certification.
|
Questions? Comments? Concerns?
Contact us at:
SAFE KIDS
CPS Certification
1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20004
Phone: 877-366-8154 (toll free)
Fax: 202-393-2072
cps.certification@safekids.org
This newsletter was e-mailed as a benefit of your national CPS certification. | | |