Targeted Training for Staff Success

Now in its 11th year in operation, the Florida Autism Center of Excellence (F.A.C.E.) is a Charter School offering successful educational programs for children and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders. It works with individuals from ages 3 to 22 in grades Pre-K through graduation. The programs at F.A.C.E. focus on developing the appropriate paths of learning to meet the specific individual needs of each student in all areas of functioning. At F.A.C.E., students gain the academic, social, language, behavioral, vocational and life skills they need to help them become more independent later in life. They currently have two BCBAs and four Behavior Technicians on staff to help blend a clinical model with a public school model. As a result, children are in the classroom learning with their teachers, but also receiving integrated therapeutic interventions.

The Challenge

Prior to Relias, F.A.C.E primarily utilized in-person training. This worked at the beginning of the year, but it became more difficult to deliver refresher training throughout the school year as time was hard to come by for quality training.

According to Tawnya Hanlon, BCBA, “as the year went on when staff needed refresher training, extra training with certain topics, or to train staff that were hired after school began, finding time to sit with everyone and provide quality training was very difficult.” Because of this, F.A.C.E. found itself delivering training after school hours and this translated to a higher cost for the organization to cover the extra training time and processes.

The Solution

Relias provides robust training for the F.A.C.E. staff and allows F.A.C.E. to customize training to meet their specific staff development needs. Relias also allowed F.A.C.E. to provide training outside of work hours, a more efficient use of staff time. F.A.C.E. developed integrity checks to identify areas of staff strengths and deficits, which allows them to assign coursework targeted to each teacher’s needs, rather than assigning bulk training that may or may not apply to all staff. Based on these integrity checks, staffed BCBAs are able to evaluate who is able to receive their supervision, and provide access to the RBT series as needed.