NATSAP/ IECA Best Practices Between Educational Consultants

NATSAP/ IECA Best Practices
Between Educational
Consultants and Program
Members
2015
National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs
Independent Educational Consultants Association
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Contents
Introduction…………………………………………3
Educational Consultant Demographics …………….4-5
Referral Preferences …………………………………………………..6
Tour Preferences ………………………………………………………..7-9
Program Marketing …………………………………………………….10
Aftercare Preferences ………………………………………………..10
Visiting Clients ……………………………………………………………11
Link ‘n Learn Attendance ……………………………………….…..12
Program Member Demographics ……………….………13-14
Consultant Visits ………………………………………………………...15-16
Consultant Referrals ……………………………………………………17
Consultant Engagement ……………………………………..……….18-19
Open Questions ………………………………………………………..…20-35
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...35
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NATSAP/IECA Best Practices Between Educational Consultants and
Program Members
Introduction
The information included in this document was collected during a survey conducted in December 2015.
The answer selections were assembled from 157 programs and educational consultants across North
America. There were 128 program responses and 29 Educational Consultant responses. For this survey,
programs included therapeutic schools, residential treatment centers, wilderness therapy programs, and
transitional living/young adult programs. Multiple responses from programs were allowed on this survey
as an admissions representative may have different experiences than a marketing outreach coordinator.
All responses were assembled from a SurveyMonkey questionnaire. As such, the results should be
examined with the knowledge that there could be variations based upon how much time each
responding program or educational consultant put into each survey question. Unfortunately, we have
no way of measuring this.
Some questions were skipped by various respondents, causing different questions to receive varying
levels of participation.
Responses were broken down into the following regions:
NORTHEAST AND MID ATLANTIC- Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington DC, West Virginia.
SOUTHEAST- Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia
SOUTH- Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas.
MIDWEST- Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Nebraska, Wisconsin.
NORTHWEST- Alaska, Northern California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington State.
SOUTHWEST- Arizona, Southern California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah.
NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN- Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming.
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Educational Consultant Demographics
Educational Consultants Responding by Region
There were no Educational Consultant responses from the South or Northern Rocky Mountain Regions.
Educational Consultants by Region
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Northeast and Mid
Atlantic
Southeast
Midwest
Northwest
Southwest
Regions
Do you work with international clients?
Educational Consultants: Do You Work with
International Students?
36%
64%
Yes
No
4
Years in the Educational Consultant Field
Educational Consultants: Experience in the Field
21+ Years
16-20 Years
13-15 Years
10-12 Years
7-9 Years
4-6 Years
1-3 years
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Experience in the Field
Do you possess any Masters or Doctoral level degrees?
Degree
7%
20%
20%
53%
PhD (Psychological/Educational)
Masters (Counseling)
Masters (Educational)
Other
5
Likelihood of referring to a program that you have not toured or visited?
Likelihood of Referring to a Program that you have not
Toured
4%
10%
24%
62%
Highly Likely
Likely
Unlikely
Highly Unlikely
Describe Your Level of Agreement with the Following Statement: If a Program is too geographically
difficult for me to access for a visit or tour, I am still likely to refer to it given I believe the student
would be a good fit.
Level of Agreement: If a Program is too geographically difficult for me
to access for a visit or tour, I am still likely to refer to it given I believe
the student would be a good fit.
7%
10%
14%
21%
48%
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree nor Disagree
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
6
What types of tours do you prefer?
Tour Preference
No Preference
Private Company Arranged
Consultant Arranged
Program Arranged
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Tour Preference
How much time do you need on a tour to feel you have an adequate understanding of a program?
How much time do you need on a tour to feel you have an
adequate understanding of a program?
9%
0% 4%
39%
48%
1 hour
2 Hours
3 Hours
4 Hours
5+ Hours
For this question we had two write in responses that stated they prefer to sit in with a therapy group or
treatment session and would like separate time to meet with their clients. The other write in responses
mentioned that a first visit would be longer than subsequent visits.
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When Visiting a Program, How Important are the Following Factors
Importance of Factors when Visiting a Program
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Receiving Marketing
Materials
Very Important
Receiving Information
about the Overall
Treatment Model
Somewhat Important
Neutral
Receiving Information
about Program Services
Somewhat Unimportant
Touring the Facilities
Very Unimportant
Importance of Factors when Visiting a Program
(Meeting/Networking)
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Meeting New Program
Staff
Very Important
Meeting with Program
Students/Residents
Somewhat Important
Neutral
Connecting/Socializing
Connecting/Socializing
with Program Colleagues with Program Colleagues
on Property During Office off Property After Office
Hours
Hours
Somewhat Unimportant
Very Unimportant
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Open Question: Of the Items above, what is the most important to you in the tour process?
Top 3 Responses:



Meeting with students/residents/staff
Touring facility
Learning more about the treatment model/program
9
How important to you are a program’s marketing/outreach efforts?
Importance of Program Marketing/Outreach Efforts
Social Media
Print Materials
Newsletter
Website
0
2
4
Of little importance
6
neutral
8
10
12
14
Somewhat Important
16
18
20
Very Important
Analysis: Consultants did not rate receiving marketing materials at tours as being very important. This
may be from a desire to not become over-burdened if they are visiting several programs in one day or
from a logistic standpoint of having to ship items back to their office.
Regarding aftercare following treatment, which do you prefer?
Aftercare Treatment Preference
3%
38%
59%
Program has their own developed in-house care
Program suggest that the client consult with their Education Consultant regarding next steps
Both
10
How typical is it for you to visit a student on location during the course of treatment (Wilderness
Only)?
Likely to Visit a Student in Wilderness?
7%
17%
38%
38%
Very Likely
Somewhat Likely
Somewhat Unlikely
Very Unlikely
How typical is it for you to visit a student on location during the course of treatment (NonWilderness)?
Likely to Visit a Student (Non-Wilderness)
0%
17%
24%
59%
Very Likely
Somewhat Likely
Somewhat Unlikely
Very Unlikely
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Have you attended a NATSAP/IECA Link ‘n Learn?
Attended a NATSAP/IECA Link 'n Learn?
38%
62%
Yes
No
In the open responses to this question, education consultants mentioned the following reasons for not
having attended a Link ‘n Learn
1)
2)
3)
4)
Timing
Unaware of what it was
Prefer to see programs themselves
Do not receive much value from it as it is attached to a conference.
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Program Member Demographics
When we requested responses from programs, we asked for multiple responses as those in different
positions will have different experiences with Educational Consultants. Unfortunately, due to the
anonymous nature of this survey, we were unable to ascertain how many individual programs
responded.
From the choices below, what region best described your business location?
Regions
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Regions
Program Members identified as:
Program Type
1%
1%
19%
23%
12%
44%
Wilderness Therapy Program
Residential Treatment Center
Young Adult/Transitional Program
Therapeutic Boarding School
Specialty Psychiatric Hospital
Other
13
How many years has your program been in operation?
Length of Program Operation
21+
16 to 20
13 to 15
10 to 12
7 to 9
4 to 6
1 to 3
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Length of operation
14
In the past 12 months, how many consultants have toured your program?
Number of Consultants Touring
25+
21 to 25
16 to 20
11 to 15
6 to 10
1 to 5
None
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Number of Consultants
Educational Consultant Visits Compared to Program Years of Operation
Visits Compared to Years of Operation
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1-3 Years
4-6 years
None
1 to 5
7-9 years
6 to 10
10-12 years
11 to 15
13-15 years
16 to 20
16-20 years
21 to 25
21+ years
25+
15
In the past 12 months, what percentage of consultants who have visited your program are new
consultants (less than 1 year consulting)?
New Consultants Touring
8%
19%
27%
19%
27%
None
Less than 5%
5-10%
10-20%
More than 20%
16
What percentage of your population comes from Educational Consultant referrals?*
Referrals
All
90-100%
80-90%
60-70%
50-60%
30-40%
20-30%
10-20%
1-10%
None
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Referrals
*Unfortunately, this information is missing both the 40-50% and 70-80% values. Program members
mentioned that they rounded up or down to the percent that was closest to their correct amount of
referrals.
In the past 12 months, estimate how many referrals has your program provided for Educational
Consultants?
Referrals to Educational Consultants
6%
9%
9%
5%
5%
37%
7%
22%
0
1 to 10
11 to 20
21 to 30
31 to 40
41 to 50
51 to 100
100+
17
In your program’s experience, what percentage of consultants are engaged with the family and
program throughout the entire course of treatment?
Engaged Throughout Treatment
1% 4%
16%
5%
4%
5%
8%
14%
15%
13%
15%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
In your program’s experience, what percentage of consultants are seldom heard from until the end of
treatment?
Seldom Heard From Until Discharge
5%
10
%%
0% 4% 0%
12%
14%
31%
16%
17%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
18
In your program’s experience what percentage of consultants are never heard from following the
initial referral?
No Communication after Placement
3%
4% 0%
5%
35%
21%
32%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
19
Educational Consultants: What are the mistakes programs make that make your jobs harder?
20
In the open responses, Education Consultants listed the following as their top 3 mistakes that programs
make:



Inconsistent/non-communication from program
Making recommendations/referrals without consulting the Education Consultant
Informing parents of an issue with treatment/the child before informing the Education
Consultant
Program Members: What are the consultant characteristics or practices that hamper a healthy
working relationship?
21
22
Program respondents highlighted the following characteristics:





Rigidity and over reactiveness
Siding with parents without discussing complaints with programs
Poor communication (not reading client updates or missing client update calls)
Ethical issues
Entitled behaviors
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Educational Consultants: What are the things that programs do that you most appreciate?
Of the 25 responses we received for this question, 22 respondents mentioned consistent in depth
communication as what they most appreciate from programs. Although we did not ask about what
would be the preferred frequency of communication, several Educational Consultants mentioned a
preference for monthly updates.
24
Program Members: What are the characteristics of consultants who are known for working well with
your program?
25
26
Overwhelmingly Programs mentioned the following characteristics:




Objective and non-reactive
Clinically knowledgeable about the treatment process and disorders that a program works with
Works with the entire family throughout the process and helps to manage parent’s anxiety.
Involved and engaged in the process
Educational Consultants: What do you wish programs would do when a mistake is made?
Respondents overwhelmingly replied that programs should acknowledge the mistake, correct the error
and show steps taken to ensure that it does not happen again. Several respondents mentioned that they
want to hear about the error from the programs, not from the parents.
27
Program Members: Describe how consultants can best react to program mistakes?
28
The respondents overwhelmingly requested that the educational consultant contact the program
directly to discuss the mistake and to keep the lines of communication open as the program worked
towards a solution.
29
Educational Consultants: What tips would you give program personnel in working with highly anxious,
reactive parents?
In the open responses, Education Consultants listed the following tips:



Make sure that the parent works with their Educational Consultant
Be clear with both expectations and boundaries
Build trust through honest communication
Several consultants mentioned that after trust has been established, the program should let parents
know the role they play in the problems they are facing with their child.
30
Educational Consultants: Describe the ideal working relationship between a program and an
Educational Consultant?
The respondents overwhelmingly stressed that communication, collaboration and honesty are the keys
for a successful relationship. While some consultants mentioned that they do not want to be involved
with the therapeutic process, others wanted to be part of the treatment team.
31
Program Members: Describe the ideal relationship between an educational consultant and your
program.
Overwhelmingly, the respondents said that working as a collaborative team is the best relationship
between an Educational Consultant and a program. The following response summed it up best:
“Collaborative, built on mutual respect and acknowledgement of skill and character. The therapist
shares his or her conceptualization and plans with the consultant as a sounding board. The consultant
helps emphasize and support the therapists’ messages to the family. The consultant helps with
resources and options for the student upon discharge. It is helpful for a consultant to be well connected
to local resources.”
32
Educational Consultants: What changes have you seen in your field in the past 5 years?
The results for this question were mixed but themes did occur. When discussing clients, Consultants
emphasized that the clients (and parents) have grown more complicated and complex (ex: more anxiety
versus acting out). Some Consultants expressed concern with the large growth of their field and how
that may lead to unqualified people calling themselves education consultants. Many respondents
expressed concerns over program closures/ownership changes and a sense of a “corporate takeover” of
services. The consultants also mentioned that treatment has grown more sophisticated and that
specializations between programs and therapists have grown.
33
Program Members: What changes have you seen in your field in the last 5 years?
34
Several respondents for this question mentioned the influx of new Educational Consultants but were
mixed on whether they viewed this as favorable. Programs also mentioned that they have seen a larger
push by parents to have insurance cover program stays as well as younger clients being referred to
programs. Echoing what was said on the Educational Consultant version of this question, programs
mentioned the increased specialization of programs and the lack of “general” programs.
Conclusion
Thank you for your assistance in completing the 2015 Best Practices Between Educational Consultants
and Program Members. We could not have gathered this information without the direct involvement of
our members.
We hope this information proves to be a useful reference. As always, please be sure to contact NATSAP
directly if you have any questions regarding this data.
Thank you for your membership!
-The NATSAP Team
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