New parents learn about car seat safety

Leaning inside the rear passenger-side door of her father's green Isuzu Rodeo, MariciYAH Y'Israel was determined.

Minutes earlier, she and eight other adults had been in a conference room, learning about child car seat safety, at the Children's Board Family Resource Centers at Town 'N Country. The group watched a film about car seat safety and how properly to install them.

The course filled her with unwavering resolve as she tried to install her new, free car seat.

"This program, from what I see, is very nice," Y'Israel said. "The people are awesome. They smile; they're helpful. Most places you go, they don't care. But everyone has just been so helpful and so encouraging."

Despite feeling at ease and focused, Y'Israel admitted she was nervous when it was her turn to install the car seat for her 1-year-old son, YosiYAHWEH BEN YAHWEH BEN YAHWEH Y'Israel.

Tamyne Maxson, a child advocate at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital, understands why parents are uneasy when it comes to car seat installation. Statistics show eight out of 10 car seats are not installed correctly.

"Just having a car seat is not good enough," Maxson said. "You have to have it installed correctly in order for it to protect a child effectively.

"In this class, they watch a video – a step-by-step instructional video – so parents can learn all the common mistakes other parents have made. That helps to know how to select the right type of car seat for their child [and] to know how to install it correctly in their vehicle, so it's a huge benefit to families."

Mother-to-be Carol Ann Patterson also was nervous.

Standing outside her silver Ford Focus and staring at the brand-new car seat, which will cradle her newborn, Zoey Elizabeth Warren this month, Patterson wasn't so sure.

"This isn't for newborns," she said.

Maxson assured her Zoey would fit just fine.

"I feel more safe because it's safety regulated and they're going to show me how to put my car seat in before they let me drive away with the car seat," Patterson said. "That way I've checked it, they've checked it and it's a safely regulated car seat I'm getting, so I don't have to worry about recalls."

In 2011, the St. Joseph's Children's Hospital's Child Passenger Safety Program installed and distributed 658 car seats. During that 12-month period, St. Joseph's, which became the lead agency for Safe Kids Tampa, trained 3,306 parents on car seat installation at community events.

Car seat instruction is one of many programs the Family Resource Centers provide at no cost to citizens. Funded by The Children's Board, the program also provides prenatal classes, tutoring, job skill training, parental support groups and help preparing income tax forms.

Family Resource Centers are distributed throughout Tampa Bay, including in Brandon, Central Tampa, North Tampa, Ruskin and Town 'N Country.

"This is very, very helpful [for the community]," said Lazora Jordan, manager of the Town 'N Country center. "I can't tell you the amount of testimonies that we've had."

In addition to teaching life and family skills, it also is a place where people make friends.

"A lot of times when the playgroups end, the people will stay and sit around and talk and the kids play together more," Jordan said. "Then they meet outside of the center and go places. They've met friends here."

For more information on the Family Resource Centers, visit www.familysupporthc.org or call (813) 356-1703.

For information on St. Joseph's Children's Child Advocacy Center, visit www.sjbhealth.org/body_childrens.cfm?id=38 or call (813) 615-0589.