Our Work · Programs · Practice Transformation · Collaborations
Turning knowledge into action. Building safer futures.
We connect infant safe sleep science, community wisdom, and professional practice to create meaningful opportunities for change.
From learning and practical resources to institutional improvement and partnership, our work focuses on what helps families put evidence-based guidance into practice.
Learning. Practice.
Safer Futures.
Our Purpose in Action
Beyond awareness. Toward meaningful support.
GISS Center supports established evidence-based infant safe sleep recommendations while recognizing that families may face barriers to putting those recommendations into practice.
Our work is guided by the Afrofuturist SUID Equity Cycle and centers the knowledge of families, communities, professionals, and institutions. We focus on approaches that can connect practical resources with respectful conversations and sustainable improvements in care.
Programs
Ideas and learning designed for real-world practice.
Programs and publications help translate evidence into stronger conversations, practical tools, and ways to support families.
01 / SIGNATURE INITIATIVE
Dreaming Safe Sleep Futures™
An equity-centered initiative that connects scientific evidence, family experiences, compassionate counseling, and systems thinking to reimagine infant safe sleep interventions.
02 / PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
Workshops and Training
Interactive experiences for nurses, clinical teams, doulas, community health workers, public health practitioners, and other professionals supporting infants and families.
03 / PUBLICATIONS
Books and Practice Resources
Books, companion materials, and tools that support reflection, professional learning, respectful communication, and the application of evidence in everyday settings.
A Signature Initiative
Dreaming Safe Sleep Futures™
Transforming Infant Sleep Interventions for Black Families
Dreaming Safe Sleep Futures™ invites a shift in how professionals and organizations approach infant safe sleep—from one-way instruction to respectful, collaborative conversations that consider what families experience and what support they need.
The initiative applies the Afrofuturist SUID Equity Cycle through learning, community-informed strategies, practical planning, and attention to institutional responsibility.
EVIDENCE · COMMUNITY · POSSIBILITY
Support begins with listening.
Practice Transformation
Training is a starting point. Practice change is the goal.
We encourage organizations to define what should change in everyday practice—and how they will know progress is happening.
Education becomes more powerful when teams connect what they learn to consistent routines, family-centered plans, reliable resource pathways, and opportunities to listen and improve.
Rather than relying on training attendance alone, an implementation approach can examine whether new counseling and support practices are actually being used.
What might be measured?
Use of counseling checklists, documented family-informed sleep plans, identified resource needs and referrals, and caregiver feedback. These are suggested implementation measures, not claims of proven clinical outcomes.
01/ Listen and assess
Understand current practices, family experiences, available resources, and barriers to safe sleep support.
02/ Co-design improvements
Identify a concrete change, such as a Real Nights Plan, counseling checklist, or referral process.
03/ Implement and learn
Put improvements into routine workflows, review meaningful measures, and adapt based on feedback.
A Partnership in Practice
Connecting Community Learning and Clinical Practice at Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital
A concrete example of how a community-informed approach can move from professional education toward changes in everyday counseling and family support.
OHIO · 2026 COLLABORATIVE WORK
ORGANIZATIONS CONTRIBUTING TO THIS WORK
• Ohio Collaborative to Prevent Infant Mortality (OCPIM)
• Baby 1st Network
• National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ)
• Safe Kids Worldwide
• Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital
From a shared learning experience to a pathway for improvement
Through the Ohio Collaborative to Prevent Infant Mortality (OCPIM), with Baby 1st Network serving as its backbone organization, and in collaboration with the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ), Safe Kids Worldwide, and healthcare and community partners, Dreaming Safe Sleep Futures™ has been introduced as an approach to strengthening infant safe sleep conversations.
A 2026 convening involving Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital and Ohio partners provided an opportunity to explore evidence-based guidance alongside families’ nighttime realities, practical barriers, and the value of compassionate, respectful counseling.
Follow-up discussions with Hillcrest leadership have explored additional staff learning and ways to connect training to consistent clinical practices, community engagement, and resource connections.
Important distinction: The convening and collaboration are described as activities undertaken. The checklist, documentation approach, and other implementation steps below are proposed or in planning—not confirmed hospital-wide practices or demonstrated outcome improvements.
FROM LEARNING TO A MEASURABLE PRACTICE
What the next phase could include
• Build staff confidence. Offer additional training on accurate, nonjudgmental infant safe sleep conversations.
• Introduce a consistent approach. Test a five-element counseling checklist in appropriate encounters.
• Plan with caregivers. Explore a family-informed Real Nights Plan that responds to actual caregiving conditions.
• Connect practical support. Identify resource needs and build reliable referral or material-support pathways.
• Review what happens. Use simple reporting and family feedback to identify what is being used and what needs adjustment.
The measure of practice change is what teams consistently do—not training attendance alone.
AN ACCOUNTABILITY LENS
How could we recognize progress?
These are examples to consider with clinical and community partners, not reported results.
Documentation of agreed safe sleep counseling elements during eligible encounters.
Use of plans that consider feeding, soothing, fatigue, and household realities.
Needs identified, referrals offered, and follow-through where measurable.
Caregiver feedback about whether conversations felt useful and nonjudgmental.
Take the Next Step
There is more than one way to engage.
Whether you are a professional seeking education or an institution exploring collaboration, start where your interests align.
LEARN
Professional Learning
Explore workshops and learning experiences designed for people serving infants and families.
READ
Books & Publications
Access Dreaming Safe Sleep Futures™, its companion guide, and related educational resources.
PARTNER
Build a Collaboration
Discuss training, community engagement, systems improvement, or shared learning opportunities.
Build safer futures with us
Meaningful change begins with shared commitment.
Let’s connect evidence, community wisdom, resources, and accountable action to create safer conditions for every baby.