FAQs
The term “restraint free” describes a goal, a dream, the way things should be. Without a dream, there is no movement from what we now experience towards the goals we want to achieve. We truly and seriously want to help organisations provide training that empowers people to get so good at non-physical interventions and preventions that physical interventions become a thing of the past. But until we get there, we need to teach a way of using physical interventions which maximises safety and minimises risk. If people do not know what to do when there is a high risk of harm, their fear will take over and then they may do things that result in even greater harm and injury.
We cannot tell you why other programs may not be as lengthy or maybe longer in some cases than our program. We can tell you that we looked at standards of training in various state and federal legislation both in the US and Canada, and the material taught in The Mandt System®, at a minimum, meets all of the training standards in the Children’s Health Act of 2000, Parts H and I (Public Law 106-310, U.S. federal law), the Developmental Services Act, Regulation 272, Part VI (Ontario, Canada), as well as standards developed by organisations such as the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO), the Council on Accreditation (COA), CARF, the American Correctional Association (ACA), and all known US state regulations. A 4 full days of in-person training from 8:00am to 5:00pm Monday through Thursday plus the Conceptual Skills are completed online after the in-person training is the only way we could provide this comprehensive learning program. Under the guidelines of The Mandt System®, the agency staff instruction can be adjusted to the needs of the agency.
In order to keep people as safe as possible. The term “Practice Based Evidence” means that organisations such as ours have to show evidence that what we teach is effective in maintaining the safety of all people. In addition to collecting data about restraint use, we also look at data about non-physical interventions that are effective, and incorporate that information into our program. We also know that it is difficult to respond to all the expectations people face as they deliver services and supports in education, developmental disability, mental health, correctional, substance abuse, and other settings that use our programs. The fact, however, is that in all these settings changes are made frequently based on new information. At The Mandt System® we review our material every 4 years as we research and review the latest standards and regulations.
Yes, The Mandt System has Blended e-Learning for new students. This is a combination of online and in-person training. We also have online recertification available for students who have been certified in-person or Blended e-Learning with Relational in-person component twice. Click here to read more.
The Mandt System® is committed to the concept of Positive Behaviour Support, also known as Positive Behaviour Interventions and Supports. Unlike others, who simply create an alignment between their own material and PBS methodology, we at the Mandt System seek to fully integrate the new learning and development.
Enhanced Safety takes an organisational evidenced based training needs assessment approach, supported by data, to craft a customised training to meet unique challenges and needs not covered in lower levels of training. Organisation who deal with aggression and violence at a level beyond what the Advanced Course teaches should inquire about.
Enhanced Safety. This course includes a supine restraint but does not teach any prone positions. To learn more: (then have a hyperlink to Enhanced Safety)
Yes, absolutely. The Mandt System® has and is being used in settings that serve people whose needs vary, but whose common denominator is this: people are paid to provide services to other people. Our programs are being used in regular education as well as special education, universities, psychiatric centres, residential treatment centres, small community based programs and large facility based programs. We are not phasing anything out, we are merely emphasising the commonalities we all share as human beings, and helping you adapt specific principles to your unique settings. In fact we have added a number of other programs and are currently working on others.
More and more federal and state regulations as well as accreditation standards are emphasising “competency based training.” In order to ensure competency over time, we feel it is necessary to assess and upgrade the skills of trainers on a regular basis. We have utilised this competency based training approach since 1975.
There are no additional required costs to train your staff, beyond the instructor’s certification. The certification cost includes the instructor’s manual and access to our online Mandt Resource Center which allows instructors to download training presentations, physical demonstration videos, activities, student workbooks, additional resources and create student level certificates.
To enhance your training, additional optional training materials are available for purchase online (printed student workbooks, student eLearning options, posters, etc).
We cannot tell you how our techniques are different because we have not been certified in the techniques taught by other programs. We can tell you that none of our techniques utilise hyper-extension of joints, trigger points, pressure point or pain, techniques. We do not do tech techniques which keep a person off balance, force a person against a wall or into a chair, or force a person to the floor (i.e., take down techniques). All of our physical skills are independently evaluated by a bio-mechanical engineer to ensure they are as safe as possible for the person performing them as well as the person to which they are applied.
We provide training globally in two formats. You can attend one of our regularly scheduled programs (insert hyperlink) or bring us to your site for as little as 12 people (insert link for onsite).
The answer to this question very much depends upon the chapters being taught. The foundation of the Relational Level is the pre-requisite to all other chapters in The Mandt System®. In order for staff in an organisation to be certified in The Mandt System® Relational program, staff must demonstrate 100% competency in the written test. We recommend that this be done in a one day or eight hour period. Organisations can choose which chapters they will teach from the Conceptual and Technical Levels. For staff to be certified at the Technical level, they must demonstrate 100% competence in all written and physical demonstration tests. We recommend that this be done in a second eight hour day. If certified instructors provide training in the Conceptual Level chapters as well, we recommend adding a third day to the instruction process. Since 2016 you have the option for your staff to take a portion of their Relational and Conceptual skills training online with a short in-person session to provide for the relational skills activities so instructors can ensure the online training is applied. This is our Blended Learning option.
Again, we cannot talk to standards set by other organisations. We believe that staff must have 100% competency at the time of testing because people experience skill drift or they will lose competence and skill over time. We have done audits where we have tested staff in organisations who were trained by certified instructors, and found an overall 82% competence level in testing. If we had a lower standard at the time of initial training, we believe the level of competence of staff three to six months after training would be even lower.
Instructors are certified to teach The Mandt System® for two years. People who are certified in organisations by certified instructors have a one year certification period.
Yes. There is never any charge for phone consultation, video conference or email consultation. We do provide on-site consultation, and a fee is negotiated with the organisation for these consultation services.
In the Relational, Conceptual, Technical level training programs five out of the nine chapters teach specific non-physical skills to assist and support people to de-escalate from wherever they are in The Crisis Cycle. The chapters include specific verbal and non-verbal communication skills, conflict resolution skills, and a chapter on Positive Behaviour Support as a specific way of helping people to achieve the goals of their behaviour in ways that do not harm themselves and/or others.
IACET is known as the premier standard-setting organisation for continuing education and training providers. From the original 10 Criteria developed by the task force, the standards have evolved into criteria with guidelines that have become the basis of their accreditation standards. In 2006, IACET was approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as a Standards Developer. The set of IACET Standard that were developed as a result were approved by ANSI on October 5, 2007. What was formerly IACET Criteria & Guidelines is now ANSI/IACET 1-2007 Standard. In addition to this effort, IACET is part of the U.S. delegation to the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) TC232 group which is developing a set of international ISO standards. The Mandt System® as an IACET member is dedicated to quality continuing education and training. We are pleased to provide a group of educational professionals. The Mandt System® is an IACET Authorised Provider which:
- Provides CEUs to people completing all Mandt System® training
- Promotes quality and consistency in continuing education and training;
- Reviews educational processes used by organisations, not the content of activities, courses, or program;
- Recognises and Monitors providers against established ANSI/IACET Standards.
Yes, we have a chapter in the Conceptual Level program that addresses Legal and Regulatory issues. Members of our team have worked as expert witness, guided national standards committees, and been utilised by both defence and prosecution lawyers in various sectors.
There are differences and please click here to read our response.
Unlike many vendors, the Mandt System® does not seek to restrict organisations with active Mandt Certified Instructors from delivering our ‘student level’ proprietary content for profit, to individuals or entities outside the ones listed on our Copyright Release form.
An interested organisation or Mandt System® Certified Instructor must contact Kevin Mandt at [email protected] to request a Mandt Student Academy Agreement.