Hillcrest Educational Centers conducts various types of agency trainings and development opportunities on an ongoing basis. These include, but are not limited to the following:

♦ New Staff Back:

Staff participate in New Staff Back after their third month of employment. The purpose of this training program is to provide ongoing learning opportunities, self-assess skill level in key areas, identify job challenges and potential strategies for dealing with them, and to evaluate their employment experience and the services provided by the campus/site at which they work. All direct care staff must participate in New Staff Back. Program Directors or their designee attend and participate in a portion of the training program. This program is conducted quarterly.

♦ Grand Rounds:

All staff are invited to participate in Ground Rounds training. The purpose of this training is to discuss in detail specific treatment programs on a case by case basis. Additionally, this forum is used to deliver in depth information on diagnoses related to the children served at Hillcrest Educational Centers.

♦ Quarterly Management Professional Development:

All management (Assistant Supervisors and above) are required to attend quarterly management professional development. These training sessions are utilized deliver organizational announcements (i.e. strategic planning information, core measurements, policy and procedure changes), campus/site updates, mandated training, and managerial professional development training.

♦ RCYCP Certification:

Hillcrest Educational Centers offers its Youth Development Professionals and Teacher Assistants an opportunity to earn a national credential in child and youth care work. The Residential Child and Youth Care Professional Certification is a national certification program developed by the University of Oklahoma. Obtaining certification requires 42 hours of instructional time, 3 hours of course review, and participating in an on line proctored examination in which a competency rating of 80% or better is required to obtain certification. This certification is optional for Youth Development Professionals and Teacher Assistants, but is a job requirement of all Assistant Supervisors and Supervisors.

♦ All Agency Training:

Hillcrest Educational Centers offers professional development opportunities to its staff in the form of All Agency Trainings. These events are held at least once per year and focus on current developments in the field of human services, education and treatment. Noted individuals in their respective fields facilitate these learning experiences.