Southwest Idaho Treatment Center

Training Impact

• Increased staff safety and well-being
• Fewer client assaults and reduced restraints
• Increased staff retention and productivity
• Reduced spending associated with workers’ compensation claims and lost work hours

Situation

As a residential home for adults with intellectual disabilities, the staff at the Southwest Idaho Treatment Center (SWITC) interact with clients who display a range of complex behaviours each day, many of which often lead to escalated and violent encounters.

Facing lost work hours due to staff injuries and increased spending from workers’ compensation claims, SWITC needed a sustainable training solution that would encompass all staff roles and the scenarios they experienced. SWITC turned to CPI to support its goals of implementing facility-wide de-escalation training, minimizing spending associated with workers’ compensation claims, reducing the use of restraints and providing a safer centre for both staff and clients.

Solution

Since 2019, SWITC has utilized the customization of CPI’s programs to implement tailored training across their facility, providing all staff with proactive de-escalation skills to recognize and prevent incidents of violence, based on their roles and the situations they encounter. “Our floor staff and anybody who does direct client care have advanced physical skills. Our administration team and groundskeeping landscape team, that don’t deal directly with the clients, are generally taught verbal [intervention skills] and disengagements,” says SWITC’s Health and Safety Specialist, Toby “T.J.” Barr.

Gaining de-escalation techniques specific to the clients they interact with has allowed SWITC to strengthen rapport with their clients, which has continuously remained at the forefront of their long-term vision. Barr emphasizes the importance of a good relationship with their clients, stating, “When I'm teaching the CPI classes, the better relationship you have with the client, the more likely you're going to be able to stop that behaviour early before it becomes violent.”

Since SWITC’s partnership with CPI began, they have confidently trained over 450 employees and have embedded 7 Certified Instructors across their facility. And to ensure consistent skill efficacy, SWITC has integrated CPI training into their new employee onboarding processes.

Results

Within three years of system-wide training, SWITC reduced their lost work hours from injuries by more than 75%. The proactive de-escalation skills CPI teaches also provided a 28% decrease in client assaults within two years.

Barr stresses that reinforcing CPI’s verbal intervention skills has led to much of their success in reducing restraints by 66%. “Our staff have to be ready to deal with that [violence]. We really emphasize noticing those signs of anxiety, seeing problems before they actually happen, knowing how to clear a room and keep everybody safe while doing so.”

SWITC also experienced significant cost savings within two years of their investment in CPI training, increasing staff productivity and reducing workers' compensation costs by over 65%.

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