Interview with Behavior Care Specialists, Inc.

Relias interviewed Human Resources Administrator Grace Norton with Behavior Care Specialists, Inc. They offer intensive early intervention services for children diagnosed with autism, pervasive development disorders and related developmental disabilities.

 

Q. Why did your organization decide to move forward with Relias?

A. After working with the school systems and insurance companies, we knew we needed a better way to teach the curriculum of ABA. As a company, all the courses needed to be done as a Registered Behavior Therapist (RBT) took many, many hours to do. Relias has really relieved the staff in updating their credential and being more versed in our industry. We’re really reliant on Relias to keep us current. When I see something that’s new and inventive in the Relias system, I pass it along to the clinical supervisor to give the staff something new to look at.

“After working with the school systems and insurance companies, we knew we needed a better way to teach the curriculum of ABA.”

 

Q. Tell us about your use of Relias today.

A. We are using the courses that we have on Relias to get our staff up to the current status that’s required for Applied Behavior Analysis. We primarily work with ABA—that’s actually our sole type of therapy. We have to really be careful and have to cautiously train our staff to instill confidence and apply the therapy to their clients. Relias helps us do that.

 

Q. What courses are you currently taking advantage of on the Relias system?

A. Well, I’m in Human Resources. So, from HR there are certain mandatories that staff have to have done on a yearly basis, such as blood-borne pathogens. That’s something that needs to be completed every year, so we assign it yearly so it’s done and covered.

There are other courses that are done by, for example, clinical supervisors who are Board Certified Behavior Analysts, that see an awesome course for the line-level therapists to learn about, or in a work improvement situation, that they might use to help an line-level therapist improve in their role.

 

Q. Has Relias played a role in employee development for your organization?

A. Our boss is a great proponent for encouraging staff to better themselves. She really wants us to be on the up-and-up on knowledge, and to be on the cutting-edge of doing things. We use Relias as a way of doing this.

I believe it really frees the staff up to pick the courses they want. Also to take courses provided by Relias to maintain their RBT certification. I want them, if they get the inspiration to work on something at midnight if they can’t sleep, to be able to do that.

“[Our boss] really wants us to be on the up-and-up on knowledge, and to be on the cutting-edge of doing things. We use Relias as a way of doing this.”

 

Q. Was there hesitancy from your staff when implementing Relias?

A. There was a little, but Relias gave us the flexibility to let the staff look at it wherever they were. Our full-time employees work 40-hour weeks, so if they wanted to become an RBT, they had to do it on their own time. Using Relias, they didn’t have to have someone line up a certain time and place where they had to be for the training.

“Having the freedom to do the coursework on their own time was a big help to our staff.”

 

Q. Has Relias’ RBT curriculum helped with retaining talented staff members?

A. I would say it is definitely a retention aspect. Even if they didn’t want to be an RBT, just having that tool to learn a bit more or fine-tune their skills, it’s there. It’s also a tool for supervisors to use as a work improvement plan. It’s just so much more freedom especially since our staff are limited on time. If they can do it on their own time, be uninterrupted, I’d much rather they do that. I want the staff to be happy, so working with Relias is great.

 

Q. With Relias, has it been easier to train staff especially offering an RBT curriculum?

A. Absolutely, it’s been way easier. With Relias, we can give our team a module first, so they can see it, they can look at it with staff, and apply it where needed. If they need to, they can always go back and review. With online access, it keeps our Behavioral Analysts providing services instead of having to pull away to spend a full 40 hours in the training room.

 

Q. What is the biggest impact Relias has made on your organization?

A. I would say the biggest impact is how Relias keeps us current with everything going on. We’re trying to be proactive with school districts and insurance companies, so keeping up with the RBT certification requirements is very important and Relias makes this possible.

“We’re trying to be proactive with school districts and insurance companies, so keeping up with the RBT certification requirements is very important and Relias makes this possible.”

 

Q. Would you say the implementation of Relias was easy?

A. It was very easy to implement! Absolutely the simplest thing I could imagine. We rolled it out to some strategic personnel first, before rolling it out to all staff at a company meeting. I got to experience the system before they did so I could show them how it worked. It made expanding it to the rest of the staff very easy.

 

Q. What would you say to someone considering Relias?

A. The online route is the simplest and easiest way for a company to expand an employee’s education with the freedom to do it wherever they are. Distance from a training room no longer matters. That is the number one thing I think is best