Using Applied Behavior Analysis
We reduce challenging behaviors and increase skills to ignite your child's natural desire to learn
About Us
Are You Regularly Required to Pick up Your Child from School Because of Their Behavior?
We are an Intensive-Behavioral Day Program for children and youth ages 3-20
We do not send children home for "behaviors." We serve children and youth, with and without identified disabilities, who often engage in dangerous or challenging behaviors, or who engage in severe withdrawn behaviors, that are significantly impacting their ability to be successful in more typical education settings. We address their behavior challenges, teach replacement and social skills, and prepare them for a return to more typical educational setting. We serve recipients from Preschool to Grade 12, however, we do not offer High School credits.
BEC is a transitional program, meaning, we only accept recipients who have not been successful in day care, school, or other programs. We strive to return them to a public school or other setting with the skills they need to succeed to the best of their ability. Using Applied Behavior Analysis, we are able to engage recipients in a comprehensive program that makes learning the functional, engaging process it should be!
The focus of BEC is Applied Behavior Analysis; personal care skills, direct instruction, and other activities are provided as age and developmentally appropriate activities that replicate or mimic the conditions under which the child has a history of engaging in dangerous and challenging behavior. In this way, we can address the skill deficits and behaviors that prevent the individual from success in more typical environments.
To the greatest extent possible, enhanced staffing ratios are provided to all recipients as they need it, including frequent individual instruction. However, we do not support 1:1 staffing all day, every day, unless absolutely necessary. A child's future depends the ability to effectively receive instruction in groups, the larger the better. Successful group learning involves many, many skills, and we do our best to teach them to every recipient we serve.
We are a year round program, with Summer, Holiday, and Spring Break "camps." These programs help strengthen and maintain new skills and provide an ongoing structure for those student who need it.
Who We Are
Behavior Services of Brevard, Inc has been providing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services in Brevard County since 1997. In 2013 we opened the Behavior Education Center, a Special Education program for individuals who have been struggling to succeed in typical school settings.
We accept many insurance plans, as well as Medicaid, for Applied Behavior Analysis services. We typically receive supplemental funding through the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES UA), however, FES alone does not cover the cost of the services we provide. We try to keep out-if-pocket expenses as minimal as possible, but insurance may require deductibles and co-pays. Medicaid funding has no out-of-pocket expenses for covered services. Please contact us for more information.
Applied Behavior Analysis
Applied Behavior Analysis is the foundation of our program.
Applied Behavior Analysis is the application of evidence-based, scientific principles to change behavior. Our clinical staff are credentialed by the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB.com), the credentialing entity for Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs), Board Certified assistant Behavior Analysts (BCaBAs), and Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs.)
Behavior Analysis is best provided in the environments in which the challenging behaviors occur. Because the children we serve have a history of challenging behavior that has contributed to performing below their same-age peers, including school suspensions and expulsions, we focus on reducing the behaviors that led to withdrawal from the previous placement, and increase the appropriate skills necessary to advance to, or return to, his or her optimal education placement.
Highly Effective Curricula
Our focus is on applied behavior analysis, so even our academic curriculum is behavior analytic! We use Engelmann's Direct Instruction, a structured, task-analyzed method of teaching children that ensures the child has mastered each step of the material before advancing to the next skill. DI's foundations are in ABA. DI lessons are similar to other ABA curricula, presenting small increments of new material in a "I say, we say, you say" structure with error correction build into each lesson to minimize ongoing errors.
Our staff are dedicated to maximizing progress for each child. For more information about DI, please check out the National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI.org)
Leadership
Leadership at BEC comes from Dr. Karen Wagner PhD, BCBA-D, LMHC (owner and CEO), and Cindy Colletti, M.A., our amazing Program Director, and Elizabeth Erwin, our wonderful Office Manager. They, with our incredible staff, ensure your child is receiving the most appropriate behavior interventions. Our staff are passionate about our student's progress and bring this enthusiasm into their interactions.
Now Accepting Applications!
Feel like we might be the right placement for your child?
Contact us to set up a time to discuss your child's needs
Family Empowerment Scholarship
Is You Child Getting Left Behind? Family Empowerment Scholarship-Unique Abilities
Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities
On July 1, 2022, the McKay Scholarship Program joined with the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program under the Unique Abilities category.
The Family Empowerment Scholarship Program is designed to offer families of students with disabilities, as young as 3 years of age, access to additional education options. Families may choose to enroll their student in a public school other than their neighborhood school, or they may take the opportunity to enroll their child in a private school that better meets their child's needs.
How do I apply?
If your child is in a public school, and has has made little or no progress due to learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, or challenging behaviors, and you are interested in applying for the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program, talk to our Ms. Colletti before withdrawing your child from public school.
Step Up For Students
P.O. Box 54367
Jacksonville, FL 32245-4367
877-735-7837
