What is Forest City Behavior & Development?
FCBD is an organization dedicated to ensuring that people with developmental disabilities (DD) receive the best practice-based and research-proven clinical services they deserve.
What do you mean by "Best Practice" and "Research Proven"?
Research proven treatments are those treatments which have been evaluated scientifically and found to be effective. Typically, a treatment has to be shown to be effective under several repeated experimental trials before it can be considered research proven - it's not enough to show that it works only one time.
Best practice standards are the guidelines that ethical clinical professionals follow when deciding which treatment to use in a given case. Generally speaking, this involves using the approach that is research proven for the type of case the professional is dealing with. However, there are also clinical situations for which there is not sufficient research. In these situations the professional must understand what the accepted practice standards are and base his or her treatment on those standards.
Why is it important that treatment for people with DD be research proven and/or based on best practice standards?
Modern medicine has provided amazing advances for our health, longevity, and for society in general. The human lifespan has increased, and people are healthier into their old age than ever before. Children born today will have only academic knowledge of diseases like Polio, which affected thousands upon thousands of people less than 100 years ago.
All of these advances became possible only after medicine adopted research proven and/or best practice standard based treatment. Prior to this medical treatment was largely based upon folklore.
We sometimes take modern medicine for granted nowadays. To put this into perspective, imagine that you have a cut on your hand that has become infected. Today you would go to the doctor and she would follow best practice standards by prescribing a research proven treatment - an antibiotic.
Before the adoption of research proven and/or best practice standard based treatment your doctor would likely have prescribed bloodletting - a treatment that not only would have failed to help, but would have weakened you and made you less able to fight off the infection on your own.
Mental health treatment has undergone a similar transformation. 100 years ago if you had gone to your doctor to treat depression he might have given you cocaine - Freud prescribed it to several of his patients (and himself). We know now, through research that cocaine is highly addictive, causes heart problems, and is not an effective treatment for depression - in fact, it can make depression much worse. In Freud's day, however, treatments did not have to be proven before being used.
Today, if your doctor tried to treat your infection with bloodletting, or your depression with cocaine, you would find another doctor.
If modern medicine is research proven and/or based on best practice standards, why is knowing about this important for people with DD?
Unfortunately people with DD have not benefited as much as other populations from the scientific revolution in clinical treatment. There are many reasons for this, but what it means for treatment is that most medical and mental health professionals have little to no experience providing treatment to people with DD. Many will not be familiar with, or perhaps even be aware, that the treatment standards for people with DD are different from the general population.
In addition the scarcity of experienced professionals can cause parents, guardians, and professionals to turn to unproven treatments. There are many of these "fad therapies" out there - many promising miraculous results. Unfortunately these are rarely effective, and often are harmful. Even those fad therapies that do not cause direct personal harm can cause indirect harm in the form of opportunity costs - meaning that they waste time, money, and other resources that could have been dedicated to proven treatments.
What does Forest City Behavior & Development do to ensure that people with developmental disabilities (DD) receive the best practice-based and research-proven clinical services they deserve?
FCBD offers three levels of service to ensure that people with developmental disabilities (DD) receive the best practice-based and research-proven clinical services they deserve:
The first level includes the web-based educational, training, informational, and reference resources offered through the FCBD website. Most of these services are offered free of charge.
The second level includes the direct training services offered by the FCBD staff.
The third level involves direct case consultation by the FCBD staff in the areas of Applied Behavior Analysis, Social Work, Clinical Pharmacy, Psychological Assessment, and Psychiatry.
What types of training and educational services does Forest City Behavior & Development offer?
FCBD offers online training presentations on a number of topics. In addition we also offer on-site training at your location by special arrangement. Where needed, arrangements can be made to offer certification of contact hours.
We provide information about life from the perspective of a parent of a child with a developmental disability in Pam Vivian's journal in the Parents Grove.
Erin Wade, Ph.D, offers discussion about various topics in and surrounding the field of Behavior Analysis in Behaviorally Speaking.
We will soon be offering news and information about recent research in Behavioral Analysis and Developmental Disabilities presented in accessible language to provide you with up to date information that you can use today.
In our Forum we offer the opportunity to discuss a variety of issues and information about treatment for people with developmental disabilities. Our Forum is moderated by FCBD staff, which allows us to ensure that information that is presented is consistent with best practice or corrected if it is not.
We offer reviews of books and other materials from both a professional and parent perspective to help you select those reference materials that will be most useful, accurate, and well presented to aid in learning about treatment for people with developmental disabilities.
What is Applied Behavior Analysis and what services does Forest City Behavior & Development offer in this area?
Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA, is sometimes described as the natural science of human behavior. While it grows out of psychology, ABA focuses on observable patterns to human behavior rather than attempting to understand the thoughts that are behind the behavior. By viewing behavior in this way, we begin to understand that nearly all behavior – even challenging or problem behavior - is functional – it serves a purpose for the person engaging in it.
ABA uses a series of research proven assessment strategies, known collectively as functional assessment, to determine the function of challenging behaviors. Once the function is determined, appropriate treatment planning can be developed. Often this treatment involves behavioral treatment planning. However, functional assessment is also used to determine whether a person has environmental, medical, or mental health needs that impact behavior, and ensures that treatment is targeted at the areas where it will be most effective. There is a considerable volume of research that shows that treatment planning based on this process is very effective. For a more complete overview, see our Training Presentation entitled Functional Assessment or How to Get Your Behavior Programs to Work
For more information about this or any service offered by Forest City Behavior & Development contact us directly at fcbd@forestcitybehavior.org
What types of social work services does Forest City Behavior & Development offer?
Forest City Behavior & Development currently offers social work services in two areas. First, our consulting Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) can complete Social History Assessments. These are reports that include an overview of the person’s development and familial history. Reports are typically written to meet State of Illinois Guidelines for Social History reports for purposes of placement, and for and the social history section of the IHP. If needed, arrangements can be made to provide reports in different formats as well.
Secondarily, Annette Miller-Crone, LCSW, provides counseling services for people with developmental disabilities receiving funding through the State of Illinois DD/Medicaid CILA Waiver. Ms. Miller-Crone is able to provide counseling on a limited basis within the Northwest Illinois area. For more information about this or any service offered by Forest City Behavior & Development contact us directly at fcbd@forestcitybehavior.org
What types of clinical pharmacy services does Forest City Behavior & Development offer?
Often people with developmental disabilities who have challenging behavior end up receiving treatment with psychotropic medications. For many people these treatments are beneficial and successful. However, some people have very little success on medication, or end up on multiple medications, leading to a situation in which it can be difficult to tell what each medication is for, what it is doing, and if it is helpful, harmful, or neither. This can be further complicated by other, non-psychotropic medications, which may interact with the medications prescribed for mental health or behavioral reasons.
Forest City Behavior & Development’s consulting pharmacist, Ted Dunphy, R.Ph. can review the individual’s medication profile. When there are questions about a person’s medication regimen, Mr. Dunphy will provide information about the possible interactions and effects of the medication the person is taking, and the impact they may have on the person’s treatment plan. This report may be used to provide information and assistance to the person’s treating physician.
For more information about this or any service offered by Forest City Behavior & Development contact us directly at fcbd@forestcitybehavior.org
What types of psychological assessment services does Forest City Behavior & Development offer?
Forest City Behavior & Development offers comprehensive level of functioning assessments for people with developmental disabilities. This includes providing testing and assessment to determine level of intellectual functioning (IQ) as well adaptive functioning.
Typically these services are provided for purposes of determining eligibility for funding of services. However, assessment services can be arranged for other purposes if desired.
FCBD can also offer diagnostic assessments for individuals with developmental disabilities who may be experiencing symptoms of mental illness.
For more information about this or any service offered by Forest City Behavior & Development contact us directly at fcbd@forestcitybehavior.org
What types of psychiatry services does Forest City Behavior & Development offer?
Forest City Behavior & Development offers psychiatric assessment services for diagnostic purposes, and can provide psychiatric assessment reports to meet the PAS Evaluation guidelines for residential services in the State of Illinois. If needed, similar services and reports can be generated for other purposes as well.
In addition, Forest City Behavior & Development can, through special arrangement, offer limited psychiatric consultation services for agencies serving individuals with developmental disabilities. FCBD typically prefers to offer blended services, using Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) techniques in conjunction with medication treatment, to ensure more effective treatment, and to allow for more accurate evaluation of treatment effects.
For a complete overview, see our training presentation Psychiatric Assessment and Treatment in Developmental Disabilities.
For more information about this or any service offered by Forest City Behavior & Development contact us directly at fcbd@forestcitybehavior.org
In what geographic areas does Forest City Behavior & Development offer its services?
Forest City Behavior & Development primarily offers direct consultation and assessment services in Northwestern Illinois. Our base is in Rockford, Illinois, though we do offer services throughout the northwestern corner of the state. In some cases, depending upon distance and travel time, travel time is charged as part of the consultation fee.
In most cases, consultation is limited to facilities within a four-hour drive of Rockford. However, it may be possible to make special arrangements.
For more information about this or any service offered by Forest City Behavior & Development contact us directly at fcbd@forestcitybehavior.org
Does Forest City Behavior & Development accept third party payment for consultation services?
We are pleased to announce that Annette Miller-Crone, LCSW, provides counseling services for people with developmental disabilities receiving funding through the State of Illinois DD/Medicaid CILA Waiver.
In addition, we are also pleased to announce that Erin Wade, Ph.D., BCBA and Aleta Woods, M.Ed., BCBA are able to provide behavioral consultation services under the DD/Medicaid CILA Waiver, the Children’s In-Home Services Waiver, and the Children’s Residential Services Waiver as well.
FCBD does not accept third party payment from any other sources at this time. All other professional services are arranged as direct fee for service relationships.
How do I contact Forest City Behavior & Development?
For general information, the simplest way to contact us is through e-mail at fcbd@forestcitybehavior.org. For people who need to contact us through mail, FCBD’s mailing address is:
Forest City Behavior & Development
6260 East Riverside #184
Loves Park Illinois 61111
