Ensuring Quality Staff Training
 From the June 2002 Disabilities newsletter.
For disability service agencies, ensuring that staff members are prepared to serve their clients begins with the hiring process. Agencies need to make sure that prospective employees have "the right values and attitudes," says James Gardner, president and CEO of The Council on Quality and Leadership in Supports for People with Disabilities. These values and attitudes include respect for diversity, recognition that all people have potential, and respect for people who need extra support.
But hiring the right people is just the first step. Agencies and organizations that serve people with disabilities also need to make sure their staff have ongoing opportunities for professional development. One of the most important qualities for professional development to address, says Dr. Gardner, is the need for disability services staff to know "how to listen and understand what people with disabilities are trying to tell them. So often, we jump to conclusions about what people with disabilities are saying."
Dr. Gardner offers the following suggestions for how staff development can be most effective:
- Include experiential opportunities as a part of a workshop. For example, a workshop on responding to challenging behaviors could include an opening session where staff members receive information from an audio or visual source, and then have an opportunity to interact with individuals who present a challenge. Then, the staff members can come back together, discuss what they observed and experienced, and get feedback from the workshop instructor.
- Try small group formats. In small groups, staff have the opportunity to see themselves as part of a unit and receive reinforcement and support. This format also allows people to share resources.
- Measure the effectiveness of staff development by looking at the outcomes for the people served by the agency or organization. Dr. Gardner says any evaluation should focus on quality of life, such as whether people with disabilities are able to choose where they live and work. "We can have all the training in the world, but if people with disabilities don't get to [make their own choices], what's the point?"
- For agencies and organizations with limited resources, partner with 3 or 4 other agencies. Staff from all agencies can come together for training and the agencies can share the cost.
- Use the local community college system, a good option for agencies with limited financial resources. Dr. Gardner notes that in most states, community colleges are required to provide courses that meet the needs of the local community. Many times, agencies simply need to present their needs to community college officials for them to develop an appropriate professional development workshop or course. Dr. Gardner also emphasizes the need for state agencies to work with local groups to make training courses available on the Internet, with an interactive broadcast that can be accessed by staff at any time of the day.
|
|
|
