Families in Androscoggin and Oxford counties may be eligible to receive the seats.

NORWAY – The Child Health Center of Norway is distributing free high-back booster seats to eligible families who live in either Androscoggin or Oxford counties.

The seats were purchased with a grant from the Maine Center for Public Health to serve families who live in either these counties. “Maine’s new law requires children who weigh less than 80 pounds and are less than 8 years of age to be properly secured in a child restraint system, such as a booster seat,” states Suzanne Cook, program coordinator for ProtectME at the Child Health Center.

The Child Health Center distributed more than 400 free backless booster seats last year through a Boost America project with United Way of Androscoggin County. Through that project, the need was evident for high-back booster seats. “To use a backless booster seat, the vehicle must have a head rest or a high back seat to give the child proper head protection,” Cook explained. “Vehicles in which the child’s mid-point of head comes above the back of the vehicle seat must use a high back booster seat. All booster seats must use a lap and shoulder seat belt and never a lap-only seatbelt.”

The available high-back booster seats accommodate a child who weighs between 33 and 80 pounds and have an adjustable head rest built into the seat that adjusts to the height of the child. For more information and to pre-qualify over the phone, call the Child Health Center at 782-5437 extension 29. The Child Health Center is a nonprofit organization with offices in Auburn, Norway and Rumford.

For more information, call 782-5437 or visit www.childhealthcenter.org.