Since its establishment in 2017, Northern Michigan University’s Behavior Education Assessment and Research (BEAR) Center has been dedicated to increasing access to high-quality behavior services to individuals, families, schools, and communities in underrepresented rural areas throughout the Upper Peninsula. Overseen by NMU’s Department of Psychological Sciences, the BEAR Center provides critical therapy services to individuals with autism and other behavioral disorders and serves as a clinical and research site for students pursuing careers in the field.
In 2020, the Center received nearly $500,000 from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund (MHEF) to train more providers and reach wider populations in more diverse settings in the Upper Peninsula. This training benefits the regional community by opening up access to quality behavior analytic services and by providing training and professional development to future and current behavior analysts. It also extends the center's services to a broader age population and range of behavioral difficulties.
“The BEAR center has continued to operate throughout the pandemic, providing clinic, in-home, school and community behavioral services,” said Dr. Jacob Daar, Director of the BEAR Center. “Currently, we are actively training new behavior technicians and accepting new clients.”
The BEAR Center uses Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to serve its clients. ABA is a scientific approach to understanding and supporting socially significant behavior change. It emphasizes the relationship between observable behaviors and the environment in which they occur. The study of ABA is important for a number of reasons, one being that ABA is an evidenced-based best practice that can provide beneficial support in gaining social, language, and cognitive skills for individuals with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), developmental and intellectual disabilities, and those presenting difficult to manage behaviors, as well as substantial empirical support for managing workplace and group performance. ABA is also helpful in understanding why some individuals engage in difficult to manage behaviors, such as aggression, self-injury, and tantrums, and in developing strategies for helping those individuals gain alternative behaviors.
The Center strives to provide services to a wide variety of individuals to truly make an impact on the lives of their patients and the surrounding community. For this reason, the funding from MHEF is significant to the overall mission of the BEAR Center.
“The MHEF grant has enabled the BEAR Center to expand services beyond a limited age bracket and beyond the in-clinic settings to serve schools and other areas of the community,” Dr. Daar said. “This has allowed the implementation of comprehensive programs addressing a greater degree of needs for families and individuals. With this grant, the BEAR center is able to support them throughout multiple settings. Many of our clients are seeking help in the face of financial hardship and even with existing systems struggle to gain access to this kind of service.”
Children, adolescents, and adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities, acquired brain injury, and aging are just some of the individuals the BEAR Center can help. There are several beneficial services that the center provides. All service programs are individually designed using applied behavior analytic therapies and procedures to meet the needs of our clients and ensure a successful outcome. Each client’s program is created and individualized by a licensed clinician within the BEAR Center.
In addition to services available through these programs, the BEAR Center is introducing a new Registered Behavior Technician™ (RBT®) training course via NMU’s Continuing Education and Workforce Development program. This training program is free and open to participants living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan who are 18 years of age or older with a high school diploma. Training in Behavior Analysis at the paraprofessional level requires 40 hours of training, as stated by Michigan law. Those with RBT training practice under the close, ongoing supervision of a Board Certified assistant Behavior Analyst™ (BCaBA®), Board Certified Behavior Analyst™ (BCBA®), or Board Certified Behavior Analyst – Doctoral™ (BCBA-D®).
The RBT program is updated to 2022 standards of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB). It is consistent with the BACB and state requirements for providing ABA services.
“For many agencies seeking to hire RBTs, it is difficult to onboard and train someone to that level. It’s also difficult for those who are looking to get hired for this sort of position. Being able to gain access to that training prior greatly increases likelihood of being hired and assigned clinical hours,” Dr. Daar said. “Even for those who aren't seeking the credential, the RBT training is designed to help people understand behavior management. For anyone working with individuals who need behavior support, these skills are fairly universal and apply to a great number of care roles.”
For more information on the new RBT certification, visit the website.
The BEAR Center is currently accepting clients of any age or diagnosis for whom Applied Behavior Analytic Services may benefit. In addition to the MHEF grant, the Center also accepts clients with insurance and private pay. All clients are encouraged to apply for the grant and/or a hardship waiver, established by the NMU Foundation to support families who would otherwise not qualify or be able to afford behavior services.
If you want to learn about how the BEAR Center can help you, visit nmu.edu/bear to get in contact.