Child Restraint Use: Workbook and Guide for Evaluating Community-based Programs

The leading cause of injury and death for children in California is motor vehicle crashes. To prevent these needless tragedies, the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), through the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, funds child passenger safety programs throughout the state. This workbook is designed to be used by these local programs to 1) evaluate the impact of their activities on child restraint use, 2) evaluate results to improve or modify the programs as needed, and 3) meet contractual evaluation requirements. Program evaluations can be difficult for local programs due to high service demands and limited resources. We hope this guide supports local programs and agencies by providing the evaluation method and tools. A before-and-after study design is described that measures restraint use before the intervention occurs (to provide a baseline rate) and then after the intervention (to document any change). The UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center will offer direct support and guidance to those programs using these instructions.