Scholarships to Pay for Safe Kids CPS Fees

Apply for a Safe Kids Scholarship for the Florida OPRC to pay your Safe Kids fees for any of these Child Passenger Safety (CPS) certifications:  

CPS Technician

Car crashes are a leading cause of death for children. 
Studies have shown that approximately half of all car seats are not correctly installed. 

Motivated technicians work to reduce these statistics and are instructed over 3-4 days on installing all different types of car seats with varying latches, buckles, and belt locks in several different cars.  As a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician, you will put your knowledge to work through a variety of activities, including community presentations and/or child safety seat checks where parents and caregivers receive education and hands-on assistance with the proper use of child restraint systems and seat belts. The Florida Occupant Protection Resource Center offers scholarships to pay for the Safe Kids Worldwide registration fee for CPS certification and recertification (not for the local fee, if applicable). 

CPS Technicians that receive the scholarship to pay their Safe Kids fees agree to the following: 

• Apply within 10 to 30 days of course 
• Attend every day of the course for the full allotted time 
• Set their Safe Kids profile to ‘public’ 
• Affiliate with the University of Florida 
• Participate in agency and community car seat check events 

Join the team of over 38,000 nationally certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians (CPST) and be that community advocate or resource in your community! 

In addition, the OPRC offers CPS-specific resources including LATCH manuals, car seats, and a library of print-ready materials to support our state’s CPS professionals.  
 
Looking to assist at existing car seat check events or appointments before starting your own? See this list of Florida Fitting Stations and reach out to your local contact today! 

Ready to recertify? Review this Safe Kids Worldwide webpage on recertification requirements. It's never too early to start on the requirements; the five seat checkoffs is the most common barrier to recertifying. 

Tech Proxy

Becoming a CPS proxy is a great way to continue the occupant protection journey. Technician proxies are authorized to approve seat checkoffs for technician recertifications. If you are interested in becoming a proxy, there are two steps: 

• Submit a complete application, along with a total of two testimonials.   
• Pay the $25 fee. 

Along with your application, you will need to include signed testimonials from one certified instructor and a technician or second instructor.  

Each testimonial is to be completed following the Instructor or Technician’s observation as you conduct at least three real (not mock) seat checks with caregivers and at least 2 seat checks working with other Technicians as a senior/final checker. They will use these observations to evaluate your readiness and ability to (1) provide suitable and appropriate feedback and (2) pass and fail seat checks appropriately.  

You can find more details in the application. 

CPS Instructor

Experienced CPS technicians who are ready to help others learn how to become technicians should consider working towards becoming a certified instructor. 

To earn this certification, CPS Technicians must:  

• Complete the instructor candidacy process and successfully teach a Certification Course.
• Make sure their technician certification does not expire during the candidacy period.