Utah Working To Break new Ground
The Utah NATSAP member programs are breaking new
ground in working with one another and working with the State of Utah. In the past few months Utah NATSAP member programs have been particularly busy. Following a very successful regional conference in June, a call went out to
members to participate in an ad hoc series of meetings designed to review current Utah state licensing standards and make recommendations for changes. Kreg Gillman of the Provo Canyon School hosted an initial meeting in which thirty
administrators and key staff from several schools and programs attended. Jerry Spanos and the Heritage School then hosted two follow up sessions culminating in a meeting with Ken Stettler, Director of the Utah Office of Licensing.
The group identified four main areas of focus which included:
1) Staff to Student Ratios, 2) Development of Policies Related to Housing Eighteen Year Olds, 3) Revisions to Overall Standards, Particularly as They Related to Behavior Management and 4) The Development of an Additional Licensing Category, Focusing on Therapeutic Boarding Schools Separate From Residential Treatment Centers.
Draft revisions were then emailed to member programs for feedback. Once the final revision was completed, the recommendations were presented to Mr. Stettler.
Mr. Stettler, who will follow up further as the State Legislature considers a bill that includes the recommendations, has already incorporated much of what was provided. Brent Hall of Discovery Academy, James Meyer and Jared Balmer of the Oakley School, Pam Nielsen of Cedar Ridge Academy, and Robin Stephens of the Aspen Education Group put in extra effort to synthesize the group?s ideas into print.
We would particularly like to recognize Kimball
DeLaMare of Oakley School and Island View who spearheaded these meetings.
Kimball reports that it was remarkable how generous everyone was with their time and talent, even though many who participated are direct competitors. He notes that each successive meeting further deepened the camaraderie of the group as a whole.
In the course of putting together these
recommendations, it was suggested to Ken Stettler of State Licensing that a member of NATSAP would be interested in representing the group on the
Department of Human Services Licensing Board. :eek: The seat on the Board was granted and Jeff Smith of Logan River Academy was selected to represent us. Jeff?s considerable experience, coupled with his administrative and personal abilities will certainly add much to the Board while benefiting our industry overall.
NATSAP Board members, Craig LaMont of Telos
Residential Treatment and James Meyer of the Oakley School, visited with the group about furthering the NATSAP mission through a greater public presence in the State. These discussions helped generate an invitation for NATSAP programs to provide in-service training to over fifty State Licensing Specialists. :eek:
The training, which encompassed presentations about the continuum of care and behavior management standards, culminated in a panel presentation by students from six different facilities, who brought a real human element into what is otherwise seen as only a regulatory process by many. Feedback from the Licensing Office has been very positive.
Utah Chapter?
With the success of these events, Utah is now exploring ways in which to formally organize a NATSAP Regional Chapter. Craig LaMont did significant groundwork about how a Chapter might function. This work is presently being disseminated to NATSAP members with the goal to start a Chapter early in 2005.
http://www.natsap.org/images/NATSAP%200 ... Nwsltr.pdf