Youth Villages Staff Talk About Collaborative Problem Solving
About Youth Villages: Youth Villages (www.youthvillages.org) provides help for children and young people across the United States who face a wide range of emotional, mental and behavioral problems. We work to find solutions using proven treatment models that strengthen the child’s family and support systems and dramatically improve their long-term success.
Video Transcript:
Hanson Adeyinka, Assistant Director of Residential Service: Level four is our most secure residential facility that we have. We have key cards that allow you access once you get in the building to go through all the different courtyards. So, it’s a more restrictive environment than maybe a level three where you don’t have locks on the cottage doors. The kids can pretty much move freely throughout the campus without staff having to scan a door to enter and depart.
Gilmore Tierra, Program Manager: We have different seasons. At one point, we’ll have a bunch of kids that may struggle with self-harm. We have kids that typically exhibit development behaviors, physically aggressive behaviors; we have some kids who may be on the autism spectrum. It varies.
Hanson: I think it’s greatly increased it. You have to build that rapport with the child, and you can’t just take their points and move on. You have to; if it’s a behavior that needs to be addressed, you have that time to address it. I think a lot of the courtyards have planned time on the schedules where they focus on having Plan B conversations and just spending that time talking with the child.
Gilmore: I think that the report is greater on the courtyard. You can just see it. You can see the change in the TCs (Teacher Counselors), and you can see the way that the kids respond to the TCs. It’s a whole lot of conversation going on. And I think that the TCs can appreciate that because they don’t like for the kids to be angry with them or to have difficulties with the youth throughout the day because they felt like it’s their job to, from the arm because they did this wrong, they moved wrong. So I had to fill them the urn. And now they’re angry at me about it because I did my job now. They feel like they’re able to efficiently do their job because if they can address the issue without doing something that they feel is negative or is associated with negativity. The youth respond differently, and we’re able to talk to these kids and come up with a solution to whatever the problem or issue may be.
Gilmore: I’m happy we’re using CPS. I mean, at first, I think, I think everybody was skeptical about it. Like I said, the culture of the building was points. And if the kids did something, you felt earned it; then you moved on to the next thing. I think that now, we’re able to help the kids work their treatment because that’s what we’re here to do. We’re here to keep the kids safe. We’re managing them, and it’s, it’s efficient. It doesn’t have to be a punitive thing. We’re able to build relationships with the kids. The kids are more willing and open to talk to us, and you can use CPS with the adults too. So it works. It comes in handy because there are several times where I’ve had to have collaborative problem conversations with my staff to figure out what problems they were encountering or why they were having certain issues with kids. And so I think just all around, it’s just beneficial to the culture of YV [Youth Villages] if we’re truly trying to make progress and move forward with helping these kids.
Hanson: I think overall it’s just been a good culture change for us at Youth Villages. Just being able to converse with the children about the issues that we see, or the problems, or the lagging skills. And like she mentioned, it’s I say culture because we’re now utilizing Collaborative Problem Solving with our staff. I think that just alleviates so much anxiety from people when you know that it’s going to be a conversation versus just immediate boom, I’m dropping the hammer on you, boom, I’m taking points, boom, I’m just giving you this write-up. I think it allows for conversation. It allows you to get to root issues of what is the real cause for whatever the unmet expectation is versus just automatically coming in, and I’m going to just come down on you. Building the rapport is eliminating future major crises that could occur. I think any time when you build that rapport between a staff member and a child, there’s an emotional deposit. It’s going both ways, from the staff to the child and also the child to the staff member. And that’s just so crucial when you have those chaotic crisis moments, and being able to pull from those deposits you will help keep things safer. So I think overall, that rapport that’s being built between the staff and the kids.
Edited for clarity.
Youth Haven was founded in 1972 to fulfill an immediate need for emergency shelter for children who had been removed suddenly from a traumatic home situation. They continue to provide services and programs for Southwest Florida’s abused, abandoned, and homeless children and teens. Youth Haven’s 25-acre therapeutic campus houses over 70 youth with offering around-the-clock specialized care.
Kimberly Weisberg, LCSW, Director of Programs at Youth Haven, contacted Think:Kids for assistance in unifying their efforts toward trauma-informed care. Youth Haven was seeking a milieu management model that could be used by all team members and one that would bring them up to speed with current thinking around trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive practices. They could have provided trauma-informed training for their staff but wondered how to best help their direct care staff interact with the kids in a way that aligns with those principles. They were particularly interested in approaches that minimized the use of holds/hands-on techniques as part of their trauma-sensitive practices.
“At Youth Haven, we often take in the children that no one else wants. Our children have had numerous failed foster care placements due to their extremely challenging behaviors. We were looking for an approach that would give our staff of varying educational backgrounds the tools to help our children grow by increasing positive relationships and decreasing challenging behavior. Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) is just that! This approach has helped our staff build meaningful relationships with our youth while helping them build skills and reduce the challenging behaviors that often got them into trouble. CPS also helped increase our staffs’ job satisfaction and decrease staff burnout! My only regret is that we didn’t start CPS sooner!”
—Kim Weisberg, LCSW
Director of Programs, Youth Haven, Inc.
Additionally, Youth Haven was interested in moving away from the use of ineffective level systems that seemed at odds with trauma-sensitive work. Their existing milieu management system was entirely built upon point and level systems, and they were seeking an effective alternative. Lastly, Youth Haven wished to have a unifying common language, process, and philosophy across all team members, from clinical to the milieu.
The Think:Kids Partnership Program was the right fit for their needs. Youth Haven began working with Think:Kids in 2019 with a readiness assessment, which helped Think:Kids develop a customized implementation plan suited to the organization’s needs. All staff members received intensive training and ongoing coaching to learn and effectively use the Collaborative Problem Solving® (CPS) approach. A majority of team members proceeded to train in more advanced concepts with a subset continuing to Certification in CPS. With further study, individuals will receive a Certification in Training which will enable them to train and coach staff internally.
To ensure the organization successfully adopted CPS, Youth Haven invested in Think:Kids providing leadership consultation focused on change management and robust data collection and evaluation. Throughout the process, Think:Kids and Youth Haven partnered to identify and track the philosophy shift, development of staff skills, use of the model, and associated outcomes. This evaluation process guided the next steps in implementation roll-out and, through regular reporting, enabled leadership to see promising outcomes and helped team members become even further invested.
“Our work with Think:Kids and the Collaborative Problem Solving approach has had a huge impact on Youth Haven by increasing our youth’s satisfaction during their stay, improved staff/client relationships, increased staff moral and employee job satisfaction, reduced our need for restrictive behavior management, and help staff feel confident that they have the ability to help our youth build skills which will help them be successful in future placements.”
— Kim Weisberg, LCSW
Director of Programs, Youth Haven, Inc.
Youth Haven will wrap up their Partnership Program at the end of 2021; however, early results already show success across several fronts. Surveys of staff indicate a dramatic decrease in the average degree of burnout over the course of CPS implementation. This is a crucial outcome given the high burnout that is typical amongst direct care staff and the resulting high turnover rates. Before CPS implementation, rates of holds and critical incidents were trending upward. Data collection shows that since CPS implementation began, these trends have reversed and are now declining.
Youth outcomes were assessed by comparing CAFAS scores before and after CPS was implemented. Total Score and subscales of Moods & Emotions and Behavior Towards Others improved to a greater degree after CPS was implemented. From intake to 3 months, more youth were rated as improved, and fewer as more acute, after CPS was implemented compared to pre-CPS implementation.
Together, these data suggest clinical improvement in these key areas since Youth Haven has been using CPS. Youth Haven’s final focus of the multi-year collaboration is now on completing Certification of key staff so they can serve as culture carriers who provide the internal capacity necessary for sustainability. Through monthly continuing education with Think:Kids, those select staff will remain energized as internal champions for the work moving forward once Youth Haven’s participation in the Partnership Program is complete.
When an agency is preparing to implement the Collaborative Problem Solving approach, their leadership teams frequently ask Think:Kids for advice about collecting data. This is an important question, as agencies are being increasingly held accountable for tracking positive outcomes related to new interventions.
If you are an agency using (or thinking about using) CPS, we encourage you to think early and often about program evaluation! Below are three pieces of advice that we find ourselves giving most often:
Do you have additional questions about evaluating outcomes related to CPS? If so, contact the Director of Research and Evaluation at Think:Kids.
For several years I had thought about implementing the Collaborative Problem Solving approach at Brown School, but I could never find traction to get the initiative rolling. A host of conventional thoughts prevented me from getting started; I don’t have the budget, my teachers are far too busy already, all that darn testing, how can we possibly find the time? In the spring of 2013, my school counselor attended the Collaborative Problem Solving all day workshop at a conference. She returned energized about a common sense, empathic approach to helping children solve problems. Her energy made me think of the old proverb, “The best time to plant and oak is thirty years ago. The next best time is, now.” In August of 2013 the faculty and staff of Brown School in Natick, Massachusetts began the Collaborative Problem Solving Journey.
For CPS to take hold in the school I knew I had to lead the initiative. I didn’t want the faculty and staff to think that this is an approach only for mental health professionals. I have taken several steps to demonstrate my commitment to CPS and how it could improve teaching and learning at Brown. First, Dr. Larry Epstein conducted a three hour training to begin the school year. He gave a comprehensive presentation that was energetic and engaging for the audience. Afterward, the faculty commented how valuable the training was for starting the school year. I reassured the staff that we would work on developing our CPS skills as the demand presented itself. In other words, “Don’t worry. I will help you with this initiative (reassurance).”
Later that year I attended the three day level one training with my school psychologist and guidance counselor. The training provided us the the structure and confidence we needed to begin making some deep attempts at CPS. We decided to give it a try. If our first attempts didn’t turn out so well, we would try again. That entire spring we worked with faculty and students using CPS to solve problems. We brought our learning back to the faculty and committed thirty minutes to every faculty meeting learning more about CPS.
It wasn’t long before an interesting dynamic began to happen. As teachers observed us working with students collaboratively, they began to ask more questions. Soon we were observing and coaching teachers while they worked on solving problems with students. It became more common for me to cover a teacher while she worked with a student on a problem.
At the same time I noticed that I was using CPS for difficult situations with adults. I quickly learned, “Adults will do well if they can!” It was amazing to experience the change in adult behavior when two people took the time to listen to each other. I once read a quote that said, “Are you listening to understand or listening to respond?” That quote has remained embedded in my thoughts and is present every time I sit down to have a difficult conversation. The beauty of CPS is; if you listen for understanding, your response has a much greater chance of making a difference.
Another way that CPS has impacted our school is in the child study process for academic, social, and emotional supports. Our conversations have shifted to identifying the lagging skill of the child and designing interventions that directly impact the lagging skills. Conventional talk has reduced and creative solutions for building skills has increased. The number of IEP referrals has dropped dramatically and I have only had six referrals from parents for special education in the last two years. Our IEP rate for students receiving learning center support has dropped to below 5%.
If principals really want to prepare their students and teachers for a new age then they need to teach them the problem solving skills that will help them solve problems that don’t exist today. I encourage all principals start Collaborative Problem Solving in their school NOW! Don’t wait thirty years.
Kirk Downing
Assistant Superintendent, Natick Public Schools, [former Principal, Brown Elementary School] Natick, MA
I’ve spent the last 20 years traversing North America and beyond conducting trainings for all kinds of organizations. Some are one-day trainings, others intensive three-day workshops. When I started doing this, the field now known as implementation science didn’t even exist. But since then, much research has been done to study whether trainings like this are effective by examining whether people actually do anything different after learning new things. We’ve done our own empirical research as well. And the jury has been back in for a while now: spray-and-pray training doesn’t work! Trainers like me swoop in and spray training over a group of people and head back home praying that what we’ve taught will stick. The data going back almost twenty years now suggest that people’s knowledge of the content taught will definitely increase if they like the topic and presentation is interesting. However, very few people will actually do anything different. One study from 17 years ago in schools showed that only 5% of participants do anything different even though they learned a lot. Imagine all of the time and money we waste on professional development seminars that fall prey to this reality!
But don’t worry–there is good news! Best practices from implementation science provide a clear path forward that mirrors what I’ve learned the hard way over the past couple of decades. You need to pay attention to four key things if you want training to stick:
I’ve seen so much valuable time and resources wasted over the years by organizations jumping headfirst into training when they really weren’t ready yet to take on something new. If they had attended to some of the things getting in the way before launching, it would’ve gone much better. Sadly, if someone or someplace isn’t ready, their experience will be negatively impacted and they will think the training “doesn’t work” or “isn’t worth it,” and it may be hard to come back to it successfully again later.
The good news here really shouldn’t be a surprise to us. When we try to teach ourselves to do new things, what we are really attempting to do is change our brains. And we’ve actually learned a lot in the past few decades about how to change the brain. We know that we must follow the principles of neuroplasticity which tell us that one massive dose of information (like a whole day) in an artificial environment (like an auditorium) without opportunity for real-time practice can’t possibly change the brain. On the contrary, we need to provide ourselves with lots of small doses with spacing in between and opportunities to practice in the actual environment in which we are trying to utilize the new skills we have learned.
Fortunately, that same research I cited above showed that if you follow training with access to regular coaching where people are practicing in their real environment, 95% of people start to implement what they’ve learned. Amazing! So, whether you are a leader who seeks out professional development for your staff or an individual looking to learn anything new, make sure to follow your initial dose of learning with opportunities to practice repetitively in small doses with guidance and feedback from an expert.
If you are trying to learn to do something new, you better have a way of monitoring how well you are doing it. In implementation science, we call this “fidelity monitoring.” It’s amazing how often we spend lots of time and money trying to teach people new things but don’t invest in any way of evaluating whether it’s working, i.e., whether and how well people are doing that new thing. So, make sure you have a way of assessing how well people are doing it so you can adjust your training and coaching plan accordingly.
One of the most frustrating things I’ve witnessed in our work is how hard it is to make something stick for the long haul. Sustainability. We’ve had situations where we work with programs for years to get them really good at our approach, and then the leader retires, the second in command moves to another organization and all of a sudden all the progress fades away. The secret to sustainability is making sure you create a team of culture carriers who are your local experts and carry the torch long after the initial training and coaching are done. We accomplish this through our certification program where we ensure organizations end implementation with a team of certified experts.
You can apply these lessons to anything you want to learn or any behavior you want to change. It is especially important to be mindful of these factors with the hardest things to make stick.
So, the next time you want to learn something new or change your own behavior, keep these four keys in mind. And if you are trying to do the tough work of changing a whole system, it’s even more important to follow these guidelines. Good luck!
References
Fixsen, D. et. al (2005), Implementation Research: A Synthesis of the Literature
Joyce, B., & Showers, B. (2002). Student Achievement Through Staff Development (3rd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Pollastri AR, Ablon, JS, Hone M, eds. Collaborative Problem Solving: An Evidence-Based Approach to Implementation Across Settings. New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media, 2019.
As originally featured on the Changeable blog on Psychology Today