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Child Safety Seat Distribution and Education Program

Distribution Class photo

Program goal

To reduce the number of motor vehicle crash (MVC) injuries and fatalities to children in Texas who are unrestrained due to family low-income status, Safe Riders manages a child safety seat distribution and education program. The program is available in most, but not all areas of Texas. Program objectives are:

  • Coordinate a statewide child safety seat distribution and education program (authorized by Texas law, 1993).
  • Provide free, unlimited, community-based, child passenger safety (CPS) education to Texas families through educational classes.
  • Provide CPS educational classes that are open to the public at locations that are consistent and identifiable in the community.
  • Partner with local community groups, who educate families regarding CPS and distribute child safety seats to eligible families in accordance with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) guidelines.
  • Provide families with one car seat per child.

Becoming a distribution and education program

When the Safe Riders Program accepts applications for the Child Safety Seat Distribution and Education Program they will be screened for the following:

  1. Applying organizations must have at least two Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) on staff. The CPST must serve as the primary and secondary contact. The technician number must be provided with the application. For information on the certification process, please visit http://cert.safekids.org/.
  2. Organizations and staff working on the distribution program must be available during regular business hours, Monday through Friday from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm, year round. Organizations that are closed for more than 2 weeks at a time are not eligible.
  3. If an organization and/or program contact have participated in the program in past years, the organization or individual must have fulfilled all program requirements and met reporting deadlines for the years of participation.
  4. Safe Riders requires each local program site to distribute at least 50 seats per 12-month cycle (a minimum of approximately 4 seats per month). 

Eligibility requirements for receiving a seat

  • Family must be low-income.

  • One of the child's primary caregivers must attend a 1-hour class about child passenger safety.

  • Someone in the household must have a vehicle.

Pregnant women in their last trimester are encouraged to participate. Safe Riders does not provide "infant carriers" but provides convertible seats which can be used rear-facing for young children and then can be converted to forward-facing use when appropriate. Booster seats for older children are also available. Assistance is designed to be one-time only.

Call Safe Riders at 800-252-8255 from 8:00am - 4:30pm, Monday through Friday. You will be referred to a program in your area to contact in order to get scheduled for the next available child safety seat class. Please understand that seats are not always available in every area of the state and programs do not always have a supply of seats.


Buckle Up and Be a Safe Rider Poster

View/Print/Download  Safe Riders Child Safety Seat Distribution and Education Program poster, English



Last updated February 26, 2020