By Tim Cason, M.Ed., Senior Consultant, TNG Consulting, LLC; Vice President, NABITA
With the publication of the updated NABITA Industry Standards for Behavioral Intervention Teams, it is crucial to emphasize the connection between standards, particularly standards 19 through 21, which address producing an end-of-semester and year-end report, conducting a regular team audit, and evaluating program effectiveness.
Standard 19. End of the Semester and Year Reports: The team collects data to analyze trends or patterns, publishes its findings in semester or annual reports, and adjusts resources, marketing, and/or training in accordance with its findings.
By collecting and analyzing data from the electronic recordkeeping system, teams are equipped to report trends in referral information on a semesterly or annual basis. Relevant data will vary by institution, but data typically included in reports may be related to trends with referred individual demographics, presenting issues, referral sources, interventions, or other related matters. Once these trends are identified, teams can use them to inform their decision-making regarding any adjustments to the program or resources. Additionally, teams should share collective accomplishments, gaps in team training, educational success, opportunities for the community, and other relevant information in their semesterly/annual report.
Teams should publish the aggregate, de-identified reports regarding demographics, presenting issues, and interventions on the team’s website and provide the report to key stakeholders regularly. Making the report public aids in normalizing help-seeking behaviors among community members, demystifies the BIT process, and can build trust in the team as a helpful resource.
Practical tip: Teams should develop an end-of-semester and/or year report template. This template will enable teams to effortlessly extract the required data and seamlessly integrate it into the existing format, thereby enhancing the ease of consistently generating the report.
Standard 20. Team Audit: The team regularly assesses its structure and processes to ensure it functions effectively and aligns with best practices.
Every two years at a minimum, the team should conduct an internal or external review of its structural, process, effectiveness, and quality assurance elements to ensure the team is aligned with best practices. As part of the audit, teams should review whether human, fiscal, and technological resources are adequate to meet the needs of the team and the community. The team then uses the data from the team audit, in addition to the emerging trends, to inform their planning and decision-making moving forward.
Practical tip – A BIT is a collaborative endeavor at its core, so BIT audits ought to be a collaboration that leverages and trusts the perspectives and expertise of the individuals on the team or external experts. If completing an internal audit, teams should use the NABITA Standardized Assessment Tool (SAT). The SAT allows teams to assess their execution of each of NABITA’s 21 standards to highlight successes and identify opportunities for improvement. BITs should enable members to complete the team assessment individually. Once each member has completed the assessment individually, teams should come together to share their results and discuss any discrepancies in scoring. If all members agree on a standard’s score, then the team may adopt that score as the team’s overall score. If discrepancies exist, members should engage in professional and productive discussions regarding their perspectives and work to build consensus around a score and a plan of action.
Internal audits do present some challenges, including potential impression management and bias and the significant amount of time and expertise the audit requires. Having a NABITA consultant conduct a neutral, third-party audit is immensely beneficial because a trained professional with the requisite experience, time, and expertise can produce a more robust findings report and roadmap regarding the next steps. Additionally, interviewees tend to be more forthcoming with external assessors, and external assessors are less likely to allow bias to influence the findings. If you are interested in having NABITA conduct an external team audit, please submit a request here.
Standard 21. Program Effectiveness: The team deploys various research methods to assess the team’s effectiveness in meeting goals and outcomes.
To assess if the team is effectively meeting its goals and outcomes, the team must first establish goals and outcomes. Goals and outcomes might include reducing the risk level of referred individuals, increasing individuals’ connection to resources, and improving overall wellness for those referred. Once the team has established the goal, it should identify the appropriate method(s) for evaluating whether the goal has been met. For example, assessment methods might include conducting focus groups, secondary data analysis, pre- and post-surveys of those who receive services from the BIT, or satisfaction surveys of those who refer to the team or receive services from the team.
Practical tip: Ideally, the team incorporates the assessment findings in the end-of-semester or end-of-year report, including results that indicate successes or areas for improvement. Making this information available in the report can aid in building a reporting culture and trust in the team. Any perception challenges or mistrust in the team must first be acknowledged. Once these challenges are acknowledged and teams articulate a concrete plan to address those matters, the community can begin repairing reputational or perception challenges.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to identify all the individuals that a team has stopped from escalating to an act of violence. Still, teams can articulate the number of individuals for whom they reduced their risk and connected to resources or the individuals who report an increase in their overall wellness after receiving services from the team. Information regarding the overall effectiveness of the BIT’s work will inform decision-making regarding improving programming, services, team training, team resources, and community education.