• Program Overview
• Safe & Positive Approaches
• Train the Trainer
• Supervision of Safe & Positive Approaches
• Supportive Behavioral Supervision
• Suicide Prevention

Safe & Positive Approaches® Train-the-Trainer

The Safe & Positive Approaches® Train-the-Trainer programs are designed to provide trainer-candidates with the necessary skills, knowledge and resources to effectively deliver crisis prevention and intervention training to their staff. Trainer-candidates must demonstrate competency in the following areas to receive certification:

1. Mastery of the physical skills of the Safe & Positive Approaches® training program.
2. Mastery of the knowledge and concepts supporting the Safe & Positive Approaches® training program.
3. Expertise in the training style and delivery of the Safe & Positive Approaches® training program.

Upon completion of the program, certification is awarded to qualified participants by the Devereux Institute of Clinical and Professional Training and Research. This certificate is valid for one year. Trainers may attend an annual Trainer Update to maintain current Safe & Positive Approaches® trainer certification.

Safe & Positive Approaches® training programs are offered in a modular approach. Trainer-candidates are able to participate in the full program, consisting of Staff Effectiveness Training, Safety Techniques Training, and Personal Emergency Interventions Training, or they may select the program components that will best suit their organizational training needs. However, Safety Techniques trainer-certification is a prerequisite to participation in the Personal Emergency Interventions Train-the-Trainer program.

Participants receive a Trainer’s Manual for Staff Effectiveness Training, Safety Techniques Training and/or Personal Emergency Interventions Training, which includes participant handouts, assessment tools, and supplementary training resources.

Part 1 – Staff Effectiveness Train-the-Trainer Program:

Staff Effectiveness Train-the-Trainer prepares trainer-candidates to conduct Staff Effectiveness Training (SET) programs and learning activities that meet the customized training needs of their organization’s staff. Participants in this two-day trainer-certification program experience first-hand the core learning activities of the SET curriculum. Participants learn how to interact more positively and therapeutically, practice skills that are essential to preventing and defusing crisis situations, and recognize ways to apply the concepts of positive behavioral supports and trauma informed care to the prevention and intervention of crisis.

In addition to their acquisition of curricular content and skills, participants learn how to use effective training methods and materials for training adult learners. Participation includes role play exercises, written assessments, practice-training presentations and observations, and giving and receiving feedback. Each participant receives the newly updated SET trainer’s manual, DVD, handouts, assessment tools and supplementary training resources.

Upon successful completion of the Staff Effectiveness Train-the-Trainer program, certification is awarded to qualified participants by the Devereux Institute of Clinical and Professional Training and Research. Web-accessible training materials (via trainer login) and optional Staff Effectiveness Trainer Refreshers are available to certified Trainers.

Part 2 – Safety Techniques Train-the-Trainer Program:

Safety Techniques Train-the-Trainer prepares trainer-candidates to teach the concepts and skills of the Safety Techniques Training (STT) program, for use by their organization’s staff, as approved and specified by organizational policy and procedure. Participants in this two-day trainer-certification program learn the underlying concepts and principles on which the techniques are based, and they develop a foundation of physical skills designed to minimize the risks of injury and distress in crisis situations.

In addition to their acquisition of curricular content and skills, participants learn how to provide a safe and structured learning environment, how to use a variety of instructional methods to teach physical techniques, and how to provide coaching and assessments of learners’ skills. Participation includes step-by-step demonstrations, hands-on practice, written and practical assessments, practice-training presentations and observations, and diagnostic feedback. Each participant receives the newly updated STT trainer’s manual, handouts, assessment tools and supplementary training resources.

Due to the physical elements of STT participants must have the following physical abilities in order to participate:

• ability to comfortably perform a series of flexibility exercises
• ability to maintain a balanced stance with feet shoulder-width apart and weight on the balls of the feet
• ability to perform three fundamental movements of STT (i.e. steps, shuffles and pivots)

Upon successful completion of the Safety Techniques Train-the-Trainer program, certification is awarded to qualified participants by the Devereux Institute of Clinical and Professional Training and Research. Web-accessible training resources (via trainer login) are available to certified Trainers. Annual Trainer Updates are required to maintain trainer-certification.

Part 3 – Personal Emergency Interventions Train-the-Trainer Program:

Personal Emergency Interventions Train-the-Trainer prepares trainer-candidates to train their organization’s staff in the concepts and skills of the Personal Emergency Interventions Training (PEIT) program, as approved and specified by organizational policy and procedure. Participants in this two-day trainer-certification program learn critical issues in the use of PEIs, including signs of distress, guidelines for the termination of restraints and strategies for reducing and eliminating restraint use.

For trainer-training and certification purposes, the physical procedures of the PEIT program are clustered into three skill sets ranging from least-to-most restrictive. Trainer-candidates are offered certification at one of three levels, and trainers are thereby authorized to train the PEIs that correspond to their specific level of certification. These three options for trainer-certification enable each trainer-candidate to select the certification level that meets his/her physical abilities and the needs of his/her organization.

Level I-certified PEI Trainers are trained in the standing interventions, which include involuntary escorts, assist techniques and standing restraints. Level II-certified PEI Trainers are trained in all of the standing interventions, the one and two-person assists-to-the-floor and the seated restraints. And Level III-certified PEI Trainers are trained in the full continuum of intervention, which includes the standing interventions, the assists-to-the-floor, the seated restraints and the supine restraints.

In addition to their acquisition of curricular content and skills, participants learn how to provide a safe and structured learning environment, how to use a variety of instructional methods to teach physical procedures, and how to provide coaching and assessments of learners’ skills. Participation includes step-by-step demonstrations, hands-on practice, written and practical assessments, practice-training and feedback. Each participant receives the newly updated PEIT trainer’s manual, handouts, assessment tools and supplementary training resources.

*Completion of the Safety Techniques Train-the-Trainer is required prior to participation in the Personal Emergency Interventions trainer-certification program.

Due to the physical elements of PEIT participants must be able to perform the following pre-requisites in order to participate:

• comfortably perform a series of flexibility exercises
• move (repeatedly) from a standing to kneeling position and back
• bear weight on each knee
• lift and carry approximately 1/3rd of their body weight

Upon successful completion of the Personal Emergency Interventions Train-the-Trainer program, certification is awarded to qualified participants by the Devereux Institute of Clinical and Professional Training and Research. Web-accessible training resources (via trainer login) are available to certified Trainers. Annual Trainer Updates are required to maintain trainer-certification.