Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Training
for Child Care Providers

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers (11/07)

Any licensee, provider, employee, or substitute who provides care and supervision to children under age 5 in a certified or licensed child care center/home, including an emergency back-up provider in a licensed family child care center and all persons providing care and supervision to under age 5 in a child care program operated by a school district must receive training in Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), the effects of shaking a baby and ways to calm a crying, fussing or distraught child. This requirement does not apply to staff in academic programs operated by school districts such as 4-and 5-year old kindergarten programs and early childhood special education programs.

Volunteers who are counted in staff-to-child ratios must have training in Shaken Baby Syndrome prior to working with children. Volunteers who are not counted in staff-to-child ratios, cooks, maintenance workers, and others who are not counted in the staff to child ratios are not required to receive the training.

A memo from Jill Chase, Director of the Bureau of Regulation and Licensing was sent to all licensed child care centers on March 13, 2007. The memo explained the training requirements and provided information about the timelines for obtaining training. The memo from the Bureau of Regulation and Licensing is at this link: http://dhfs.wisconsin.gov/dcfs_info/BRL/2007/2007-02.pdf.

A curriculum developed jointly by the Children's Trust Fund (CTF), the Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS) and the Department of Workforce Development must be taken in order to meet the training requirements specified in the law. This training must be taught by a person that attended a "Train the Trainer" event and who is listed on the list of approved trainers. (link to list of approved trainers)

Any training taken prior to February 12, 2007 or training offered after February 12, 2007 that did not use the new curriculum or was not taught by an approved instructorwill not be accepted as meeting the training requirements, with one exception.

The curriculum on Shaken Baby Syndrome prevention is included in the non-credit, DHFS approved courses called Introduction to the Child Care Profession and Fundamentals of Infant and Toddler Care. The Assistant Child Care Teacher course and the Infant/Toddler courses that result in a certificate of completion from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) also contain the required training. If a person took any of these courses after July 1, 2005, they have met the SBS training requirement.

Only persons who participate in one of the Train-the-Trainer sessions sponsored by the CTF, DHFS and DWD or a Child Care Resource and Referral agency are approved to offer the Shaken Baby Syndrome prevention training. A list of persons who have completed a Train the Trainer session and are listed as the approved trainers on this list are considered approved trainers. Training offered by persons/agencies that do not appear on this list will not be accepted as meeting the training requirement.

A training certificate issued by the person providing the training must be kept on file at the center or submitted to the certifying agency. The certificate must include all the following information:

No, a training certificate with the following items identified (Shaken Baby Syndrome prevention, printed name of participant, printed name of agency providing training, date of training, printed name of instructor and instructor signature) must be used to document training. Registry bar codes can be obtained from www.t-net.org and may be distributed with the training certificates, but a copy of the training certificate must be in a personnel file as documentation that training has been completed.

Agencies offering the DHFS-approved non-credit entry-level courses called Introduction to the Child Care Profession, Module A of the Introduction to the Child Care Profession course and Fundamentals of Infant and Toddler Care included the required training since July 1, 2005. Either of these courses taken with a completion date after July 1, 2005 will suffice to meet the required training.

If a person at the center has completed a train-the-trainer session in the new curriculum and is listed in the list of approved trainers on the Children's Trust Fund website, the person may train staff at his/her center. We are anticipating a second round of train the trainer sessions in various parts of the state that will be available to center staff who wish to train others in their organization. At this time, second round sessions have not yet been scheduled. When these second round sessions are scheduled, they will be posted on T-Net (www.t-net.org) so that any interested program can access the train the trainer sessions.

You have several open to ensure that staff have received the training before beginning work.

Option 1: You or someone from your staff may attend a "Train the Trainer" event and become approved to offer the required SBS training. The approved trainer can provide the training before the person starts working with children under age 5.

Option 2: As an interim training option, the new staff person could complete an on-line course before the person begins working with children and then complete a face-to-face course within 6 months of starting work. The approved on-line courses are offered by the following agencies:

Option 3: As an interim training option, a new staff person could watch one of the following videos (available for purchase or on-line at the listed link) before starting to work with children and then complete a face-to-face course within 6 months of beginning work. Acceptable videos that can be used to meet the interim training requirement include:

Portrait of Promise
This 11-minute DVD may be ordered online in a multi-language format - including English, Spanish, Somali, and Hmong - from the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, 801-627-3399.

Never Shake a Baby - What parents and caregivers need to know.
You may view this video online at www.nevershakeababy.org. Click on the words "Click to read more" under the heading "Streaming Versions Now Available". View Parts 1 and 2 of the video that comes up. The video may be ordered from the Ottawa Kiwanis at www.nevershakeababy.org/order-the-video.

New York Loves Safe Babies
www.ocfs.state.ny.us/main/prevention/tips.asp. This video includes information on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The video can be ordered from New York or viewed on the web. A fast internet connection is needed. This video is available in Spanish.

Centers may borrow one of the above videos from the Wisconsin Child Care Information Center at 800-362-7353 or ccic@dpi.wi.gov.

Other than the interim training options outlined above that would allow a person to start working with children under age 5 before completing a face-to-face training in Shaken Baby Syndrome prevention, there are no alternatives to a face-to-face training currently available. Remember however, that a person who completed either the Introduction to the Child Care Profession or Fundamentals of Infant and Toddler Care course after July 1, 2005 has already received the approved training in SBS and no further training is required.

The Child Care Information Centers maintains a list of all persons who are approved to offer the DHFS approved curriculum. In general Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, Family Resource Centers, other training agencies such as the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association, some technical colleges and other private agencies have sent instructors to the train the trainer sessions and are approved to offer training.

No, training in SBS taken prior to March 1, 2007 will not be accepted as meeting the training requirements of the new law with one exception. If a person took either the Introduction to the Child Care Profession or the Fundamentals of Infant and Toddler Care course after July 1, 2005, they have completed the required training. Any other training in SBS taken prior to March 1, 2007 or offered by a person not listed on the list of approved trainers located on the Child Care Information Center website will not be accepted as meeting the training requirement.

Yes, the training may be counted toward meeting the required number of hours for annual continuing education.

The law requires training prior to beginning to work with children or before 4/1/08 for licensed child care providers and before 10/5/07 for certified providers. There is no requirement for a "refresher" course in SBS. However, licensed child care providers are required to have training every 2 years in child abuse and neglect identification and reporting procedures. Since SBS is a form of child abuse, it would be a good time to review information on SBS identification and prevention as part of this required training.

The child care licensing rules require all persons working in a licensed child care center obtain training every 2 years in child abuse and neglect identification and reporting procedures. Shaken Baby Syndrome is a form of child abuse. The training in SBS includes information about the symptoms or identifiers for Shaken Baby Training. It does not cover other identifiers for child abuse or neglect. Therefore, unless additional information related to child abuse and neglect identification and reporting procedures is included in the Shaken Baby Syndrome training, the SBS training will not count as meeting the requirements for training in child abuse and neglect identification and reporting.