An Investigation Of The Factors Related To Direct Care Staffs\u27 Knowledge Of Effectiveness Instructional Strategies For People With Developmental Disabilities

The Medicaid Home and Community Based Services Waiver (HCBS) funds services for people with developmental disabilities in community based group homes. The purpose of the Medicaid HCBS Waiver is to: (1) support alternatives to institutions, (2) promote independence, (3) maximize functioning, and (4) support community integration. Direct care staff members have primary, day to day contact with people with developmental disabilities living in group home settings. Residential agencies for people with developmental disabilities have the responsibility to train direct care staff in the use of effective teaching strategies in order to realize the purpose of the Medicaid HCBS waiver. Direct care staff\u27s knowledge of effective teaching strategies will afford people with mental retardation an opportunity for greater independence and help them achieve their maximum potential within the community. This study set out to evaluate what factors were related to direct care staff members\u27 knowledge of effective teaching strategies. The factors investigated include agencies use of evidence based staff training practices, feedback as a performance management strategy, and Certified Behavior Analysts involvement with the training and support of direct care staff. A random sample of 294 direct care staff members who work in 55 different group homes throughout the State of Florida participated in the study. Direct care staff members\u27 average score on the knowledge of effective teaching strategies quiz was 23.31 out of 50 questions. The maximum score achieved was 43. These findings indicated that the direct care staff members generally did not demonstrate knowledge of effective teaching strategies. The findings of this investigation demonstrated a statistically significant positive relationship between direct care staff members who received empirically derived staff training and knowledge of effective teaching strategies. Additionally, the investigation found a statistically significant positive relationship between the behavior analyst involvement and direct care staff members\u27 knowledge about how to teach. The investigation failed to identify a statistically significant relationship between performance feedback and knowledge about how to teach. This research is important to policy formulation as it relates to the efficient and effective delivery of supports for people with developmental disabilities