Infant Safe Sleep Promotion: Increasing Capacity of Child Protective Services Employees

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Pediatrics
• Child Welfare

Background:

• Sleep-related infant deaths, including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), are a leading cause of infant mortality.
• Child Protective Services (CPS) is frequently involved in cases of sleep-related infant deaths, highlighting a need for targeted safe sleep training for CPS staff.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the Kansas Infant Death and SIDS (KIDS) Network Safe Sleep Instructor (SSI) train-the-trainer program on CPS staff knowledge.
• To assess the impact of this training on the dissemination of American Academy of Pediatrics safe sleep recommendations.

Main Methods:

• A two-day SSI train-the-trainer program was delivered to 43 participants, with 27 employed by CPS.
• Knowledge of safe sleep recommendations was assessed using a 10-item pretest and posttest.
• Post-training safe sleep education activities by certified SSIs were tracked.

Main Results:

• CPS staff demonstrated significantly lower baseline knowledge compared to other attendees.
• Both CPS and non-CPS attendees showed significant knowledge improvement after the training.
• CPS-certified SSIs delivered substantially more safe sleep training to professionals than other SSIs (1051 vs. 165).

Conclusions:

• The KIDS Network SSI train-the-trainer program is effective in improving safe sleep knowledge among CPS staff.
• This innovative partnership successfully expanded safe sleep education to a previously underserved group.
• Certified SSIs, particularly those from CPS, significantly enhanced safe sleep knowledge among the professionals they trained.