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

• Main Authors: Carolyn R. Ahlers-Schmidt, Christy Schunn, Ashley M. Hervey, Maria Torres, Cherie Sage, Martha Henao, Stephanie Kuhlmann
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-04-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: sudden infant death syndrome; sleep-related infant death; child protective services
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4227

Sleep-related infant deaths, including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), are the number one cause of death in infants between 28 days and one year of life. Nearly half of families experiencing a sleep-related infant death in Kansas were involved with the Department of Children and Families Child Protective Services (CPS), making CPS staff a priority for safe sleep training. This study assessed the impact of the two-day Kansas Infant Death and SIDS (KIDS) Network Safe Sleep Instructor (SSI) train-the-trainer program on CPS staffs’ knowledge of the American Academy of Pediatrics safe sleep recommendations. Training was attended by 43 participants, 27 (63%) of whom were employed by CPS. CPS staff had significantly lower baseline knowledge on the 10-item pretest (<i>t =</i> 3.33, <i>p</i> = 0.002), but both CPS and other attendees showed significant improvement by posttest (<i>t =</i> 8.53, <i>p</i> < 0.001 and <i>t =</i> 4.44, <i>p</i> < 0.001, respectively). Following SSI certification, CPS SSIs provided more safe sleep training to professionals than other SSIs (1051 vs. 165, respectively), and both groups of SSIs were able to significantly increase the knowledge of their trainees. Overall, the KIDS Network SSI training was successful. The innovative partnership with CPS allowed for provision of training to a group not historically targeted for safe sleep education.