News Details

Solano Public Health receives grant for car seat safety education program

November 8, 2022

SOLANO COUNTY – The Solano County Department of Health and Social Services, Public Health division, is excited to announce receipt of a $125,000 grant award from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) to expand its popular car seat safety education program. In addition to supporting local parents and caregivers to learn proper car seat safety installation and utilization, the increased funding from the OTS grant over the next twelve months will allow the program to expand its virtual reach.  

“The funds provided by OTS award will help our program continue to provide the services that we currently offer, and allow us to provide Solano families new program services such as virtual car seat inspections,” said Tracy Nachand, Supervising Health Education Specialist with Solano Public Health. 

The Solano Car Seat Connection Program currently offers car seat inspection services through organized community events throughout the year, as well as one-on-one inspections for community members that request the service. 

“We are excited to expand our car seat inspection services to a virtual format so that we may offer another option for families who may face barriers such as scheduling conflicts or transportation issues,” said Nachand. “Additionally, classes will be offered in both Spanish and English.”

According to Safe Kids Worldwide, about 59 percent of car seats are installed incorrectly. Common errors that account for improper use of car seats include incorrect harnessing of the child, incorrect installation for rear-facing car seats, and incorrect seat belt positioning for children in booster seats.  

“In addition to expanding our car seat inspection services, we also plan to utilize the OTS grant funds to train new instructors that are local to our area and who can provide additional car seat support to the community. These volunteers will participate in a rigorous four-day training to become National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians,” Nachand said. “Training additional instructors to conduct car seat inspections and train parents on proper installation will allow us to increase our service capacity far beyond its former limitations,” Nachand explained.

The Solano Car Seat Connection program, which began in 1996, has been operating with money derived from Senate Bill 1073 which allocated a portion of the fines collected from child safety seat violations. For information on the Solano Car Seat Connection, please visit
www.vibesolano.com and www.vibesolano.com/classes