As a part of the re-certification process, all technicians and instructors are required to have a currently certified instructor or technician proxy witness and verify (instructors only) a correct installation for each of the following configurations during that particular certification period:

1. Rear-facing only child safety seat
2. Rear-facing convertible child safety seat
3. Forward-facing child safety seat with harness
4. Belt-positioning booster
5. Installation with LATCH: LATCH requires a harnessed CR must be used following manufacturer instructions. A RF CR secured correctly using the lower anchors only would count. A tether must be used if it is required for a correct LATCH installation.

All seat checks are for the way the child restraint left. If the child arrives in a rear-facing only CR, and leaves in a RF convertible, it may be used as a RF convertible seat check.

All required installations must be logged into the online system and verified online by the instructor prior to registering for recertification.

Real or mock, an actual vehicle must always be used for seat checks.

The following guidelines were approved by the Certification/Recertification committee of the National CPS Board:

• During a seat check, it is always best to have the child present.
• Instructors and technicians are strongly encouraged to make every effort to do an actual safety seat checkup.
• If an actual caregiver is not available, the instructor or technician proxy may choose a mock scenario, where a colleague acts out the part of the parent.
• It is strongly encouraged that instructor/tech proxy verification of required seat check activity be completed on an ongoing basis throughout your certification cycle, rather waiting until near your certification expiration date.

The primary purpose of verification of the seat check activity required for recertification is observation of your interaction with parents and children. The verifying instructor or technician proxy must feel confident in your ability to communicate accurate information to a parent or caregiver and double-check that the installation and paperwork are correct.

Direct observation helps ensure that communication with parents is accurate and consistent with the information and methodologies detailed in the standardized curriculum. The ideal has always been instructor/tech proxy observation of seat checks, and was strongly recommended by the National CPS Board.

We encourage all technicians and instructors to be proactive and supportive of each other in their efforts to maintain certification.

Don't delay! As soon as a seat check is completed, log into your CPS Online Profile and enter it.

Once a seat check is entered for verification, the instructor/technician proxy will be sent an email notification. This email notification is provided as a courtesy. It is the responsibility of the instructor to review the requests. The email is not required to access the seat check verification request.

If you are close to your certification expiration date, contact them directly.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, click on the Policies & Procedures button on the right. Look under Recertification.