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Introduction
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Our Consulting Process
.
Understanding
Schools and Therapeutic Programs
.
Our Principles and Vision
.
Introduction
As educational consultants, we are committed to helping families locate
the most appropriate educational and therapeutic options for their
children. We begin by obtaining as holistic a picture of a child,
adolescent, or young adult as possible in order to match an individual’s
needs and challenges as well as strengths and capacities to the most
appropriate school or program. Our sensitivity to this issue is
reflected in the fact that our clients have attended nearly 100
different schools and programs, both locally and across the United
States.
 Our
work involves two distinct areas. First, prior to making any
recommendations, we assess the social, emotional, psychological, and
educational needs of a child (described below under Our Consulting
Process). The second component of our work involves evaluating schools
and programs both locally and across the country (described below under
Understanding Schools and Therapeutic Programs). In the latter case, our
goal is not only to determine whether the school or program is effective
and reputable, but also to understand the types of students with which
it is most effective.
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Our Consulting Process
1/
Assess the individual needs of the client: Our assessment process
consists of collecting and analyzing information about each client from
multiple sources. In order to fully understand a child’s needs, we never
rely on the viewpoint of a single professional nor do we make
recommendations based on testing data alone. While complex, our
assessment is not necessarily prolonged. For a child at very high risk
and in imminent danger we can provide safe alternatives within 24 hours.
For other youth, our assessment is usually completed with 10 days to two
weeks.
When working with a family we typically:
• Interview parents
extensively about their child’s current situation
• Obtain a complete developmental, social, and academic history
• Talk with students to gain their perspectives when appropriate
• Talk extensively with adults who know the youth well, including
therapists, school counselors, teachers, drug and alcohol
counselors, clergy, family friends, coaches, special interest
advisors, and resource room teachers
• Review school record data, educational testing and psychological
evaluations and determine if additional testing is necessary
• Review Individual Education Plans (IEPs)
2/
Identify Appropriate Options: Based on our assessment of a
client’s emotional, social, psychological and academic needs, we
identify appropriate schools and programs. With permission of parents,
we forward all relevant records and documents to schools, review the
case in detail with program personnel or clinical staffs (including
relevant themes that have emerged from the data we have collected), and
discuss specific ways the needs of a client can be met.
3/
Review Our Findings and Potential Options with a Family: In the
third step of our consulting process we again talk with parents, review
our findings in detail, and present school or program options that most
closely match the needs of a child. (Note that before we provide options
to parents, we have already ascertained that space is available and that
the child will be admitted.) In addition, we typically arrange for
school or program brochures and materials
 to
be sent to parents and endeavor to put parents in contact with families
who have or have had a child in the programs we recommend. Finally, if
parents opt to visit potential schools or programs we discuss their
impressions and assist them with the final decision making process.
4/
Follow-up for One Year: We are committed to a long-term
partnership with our clients. When working with a family on residential
planning and placement we stay involved for a period of one year. This
involves regular contact with a school or program to keep abreast of our
clients’ therapeutic and academic progress, assistance with transitional
planning, and generally serving as a liaison between parents and program
personnel when needed. In addition, we frequently visit our clients as
we travel throughout the year.
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Understanding Schools and
Therapeutic Programs
The second component of
our work involves evaluating schools and programs across the country.
Over the past six years we have visited over 150 residential schools and
programs including therapeutic and emotional growth schools, therapeutic
wilderness programs, therapeutic group homes, drug and alcohol treatment
programs, residential treatment centers, psychiatric facilities and
boarding schools. We have also visited and observed classrooms in more
than 70 schools in the greater Portland area.
Our goal is to thoroughly understand all aspects of the schools or
programs to which we refer families. We pay particular attention to the
unique qualities and special training of therapists, counselors,
teachers and others that work first-hand with students.
We assess the theoretical framework upon which the school or program is
built, the model of treatment, the qualifications and experience of
program personnel, and the way in which program components are
integrated. We also appraise residential living, recreational
opportunities and the overall physical setting. We talk extensively with
students and parents about their experiences. Finally, and very
importantly, we look carefully at the academic environment in order to
assess what types of learning needs and styles the school is capable of
supporting.
Our backgrounds and experiences provide us with the knowledge necessary
to understand critical and often subtle differences among specialized
schools and therapeutic settings. Extensive hands-on experience working
in both clinical and classroom settings, intensive research concerning
issues facing at-risk youth, involvement as members of the Stanford
Evaluation Consortium, and specific doctoral training in evaluation and
assessment provide us with the background to do this work. (See Our Team
for a more detailed description of our backgrounds and training.)
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Our Principles and Vision
We strive to
understand parent’s values and beliefs and listen closely to their hopes
and dreams for their children. We recognize that first and foremost,
parents have the most in-depth, comprehensive and long-term experience
with their children. We know too that families differ with respect to
their expectations and long-term goals. We are committed to listening to
and understanding parent’s values and beliefs in order to provide the
most appropriate recommendations for a school, program and/or
therapeutic setting.
Our recommendations are based solely on our professional judgment and
expertise. We accept no compensation from any educational
institution or program for referrals and adhere strictly to the ethical
guidelines of our professional organization
The Independent Educational Consultants Association (www.IECAonline.com).
Throughout the year we attend professional conferences nationwide and
review current research on teaching, learning, mental health issues and
chemical dependency in order to stay abreast of current information
about education and treatment.
We are committed to providing parents with as much information as
possible (both positive and negative) about any option we recommend.
Our goal is to provide families with the most thoughtful, comprehensive,
and carefully considered advice possible.
Collaboration on all of our cases enables us to take advantage of
our varied perspectives and experiences. While there is a great deal of
overlap in our training, each of us draws upon specialized knowledge as
we assess the needs of any given student and as we evaluate school and
program options.
We make no recommendations prior to fully assessing the needs of a
client. We believe that all children have unique and distinctive
gifts and challenges in a variety of areas – academic, social,
emotional, and physical. We have found that it is imperative to
understand all of these areas well prior to making any recommendations.
We believe that children flourish when their strengths are validated and
their specific needs are addressed.
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