Outreach & Education

Safe from the Start (SFTS)

Safe from the Start is KID’s initiative to reach families and caregivers with vital product safety information. Launched in 2005, SFTS is an established resource on children’s product safety. Nationally, we work with networks of healthcare professionals, caregivers and parents to widely disseminate KID’s safety resources and information. Locally, we work to save young lives in Illinois by facilitating workshops at parenting groups, childcare facilities and community centers, and by integrating KID safety materials into pediatric waiting rooms, childcare facilities and other points of contact with parents. Since 2011, KID has released over 50,000 vital safety materials into communities, including over 6,000 Spanish language materials.

Safe from the Start offers a variety of materials to help you check for and stay informed of recalls and unsafe children’s products. Visit SFTS’s What can you do page for action steps you can take right now to protect children under your care.

In 2023, KID launched the KID Safety Forward Program. The program expands on SFTS and is designed to provide families and caregivers specifically in low-income communities with life-saving product safety information in the most effective ways possible, working with existing community groups and partner organizations. Our outreach efforts on social media, print materials, and in-person and virtual workshops will provide families with safety information they need to keep their children safe. This program is a culmination of our research project conducting interviews with community groups in low income communities in Chicago to assess how their families receive safety information to better tailor our work.

The Debby Sayah Grandparent Outreach Project

Grandparents are the teachers, caregivers and pillars of any family. For all these reasons, it’s crucial for them to have information on children’s product safety to protect the children under their care. In 2009, KID launched The Debby Sayah Grandparent Outreach Project to provide lifesaving product safety information that is specifically targeted to the needs of this essential population of caregivers.

The program is named in memory of Deborah R. Sayah, mother to KID board member Judy Sage. Debby was a wonderful grandma who was passionately devoted to her grandchildren. Her grandson, Andy, was suffocated on a foam sleep positioner in 2001. This program is the legacy of Andy and all of the children who’ve been injured or killed by unsafe children’s products.

The Debby Sayah Grandparent Outreach Project seeks to empower grandparents to protect children from unsafe and recalled children’s products. Use the following action steps to start protecting your grandchildren now:

KID Workshop

Learn more about KID’s workshops, Safe From the Start, and Creating Safe Environments for Children, interactive presentations to educate childcare providers, parents, and grandparents with information on identifying and removing unsafe children’s products from homes and other childcare settings.

Download KID’s brochure, Are your Grandkids SAFE? for basic information on children’s product safety and the Three Steps to Safety. Access other KID materials from our publications page.

Sign up to receive KID’s email listserv dedicated to grandparents and product safety issues.

Support KID’s vital safety work. Your contributions will enable KID to sustain this program and increase outreach to educate consumers on children’s product safety and recalls.

Sleep Environment Safety

KID believes a safe sleep environment is a crib, bassinet or portable crib/play yard that meets CPSC and ASTM standards with a tightly fitted sheet and a baby placed on its back—nothing else should be in the crib. Sleepers and wearable blankets can help parents avoid possible hazardous blankets in the crib.