The information in this program outline is provided by the program representative and edited by the CEBC staff. The The Mandt System program has been reviewed by the CEBC in the area of: Behavioral Management for Adolescents in Child Welfare, but lacks the necessary research evidence to be given a Scientific Rating.

• Types of Maltreatment: Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Physical Neglect, Emotional Abuse, Exposure to Domestic Violence
• Target Population: The program is sub-clinical and thus provides the foundation upon which the clinical and programmatic skills of staff within the organization prevent, de-escalate, and/or intervene in potentially aggressive situations with service recipients.

THE MANDT SYSTEM is a program that teaches staff how to incorporate the components that form the context in which all human services are provided and received.

THE MANDT SYSTEM uses a Train-the-Trainer model to provide organizations with the tools to increase the emotional, psychological, and physical safety of service recipients and service users. In addition to helping in a treatment center, school or other such environment, THE MANDT SYSTEM has a version of the non-physical aspects of the program specifically written for families. This empowers the certified trainers to not only teach the staff, but the families as well, how to best support children and adolescents when they are in their home settings instead of in schools, pre-schools, treatment centers, and other programs. THE MANDT SYSTEM can be taught to students, and has been taught to students as young as 9 years old.

The primary goal of THE MANDT SYSTEM is to build healthy workplace relationships, first between the staff of the organization to address horizontal violence, and then between the staff and the service recipients and their families, to address vertical violence (violence between service recipients towards each other and/or staff). By striving towards and achieving this goal, organizations can provide for the physical, psychological, and emotional safety of all stakeholders.

Relational Chapters that are required to be taught prior to teaching any other chapters:

• Chapter 1, Building Healthy Relationships, teaches what the components of healthy relationships are and how they can be built and maintained.
• Chapter 2, Building Healthy Communication Skills, includes information on how communication is needed to build healthy relationships and how to de-escalate potentially aggressive situations.
• Chapter 3, Building Healthy Conflict Resolution Skills, combines the concepts of healthy relationships and healthy communication to do more than anger management. By learning to work cooperatively, children and adults can resolve conflicts in ways that meet each others’ needs and improve the relationship.

The Conceptual Chapters provide information in specific areas that increase the emotional, psychological, and physical safety of all people:

• Chapter 4, Trauma-Informed Services, provides a sub-clinical foundation empowering people to be aware of the effects of abuse and neglect, and how to respond in ways that minimize the potential for re-traumatization.
• Chapter 5, Positive Behavior Support, provides an overview of what positive behavior support is and how to implement behavior change strategies in non-coercive ways.
• Chapter 6, Liability and Legal Issues, provides a framework to understand the potential legal issues facing paid providers of services when faced with potentially aggressive situations.
• Chapter 7, Medical Risks of Restraint, provides information on the medical risks of physical restraint and how to minimize those risks.

The Technical Chapters provide specific physical skills to provide safety for caregivers and people to whom they provide care. Each of the physical skills has an ergonomic assessment that describes how the skills provide safety for all people. THE MANDT SYSTEM does not teach any floor restraints.

The Mandt System was designed with a child component that addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms:

• Verbal and physical aggression, conflict resolution.

Age range: 3 – 17

Developmental Delays:

This program was developed for children with developmental delays; but has not been tested for children with developmental delays.

The Mandt System was not designed with a parent/caregiver component.

The Mandt System was not designed to be conducted in a group setting, and has not been tested for use in a group setting.

Recommended Intensity:

Relational skills can be used in many situations. If physical skills are taught, contact sessions should be 30 minutes or less in length.

Recommended Duration:

Skills learned in training can be used as needed.

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Community Agency
• Foster Home
• Hospital
• Outpatient Clinic
• Residential Care Facility
• School

This program does not include a homework component.

The Mandt System does not have materials available in a language other than English.

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

For the Train-the-Trainer aspect of the program:

• A Computer
• Projector
• Training space of at least 1,000 square feet

For performing the skills taught in trainings:

• No resources are needed

The minimum qualifications are set by the organization's program. Approximately 200 of the certified trainers in the US and Canada have PhD or Ed.D. levels of education.

There is a manual that describes how to implement this program, and there is training available for this program.

Training Contact:

• Kevin Mandt
  kevin@mandtsystem.com
  phone: (800) 810-0755

Training is obtained:

Training can be provided on-site or regionally. A minimum of 12 trainers is required to provide the train-the-trainer program.

Number of days/hours:

The length of time will depend on the length of the program in which participants wish to be certified:

• Relational (non-physical) – 2 days
• Relational and Conceptual (includes Trauma-Informed Services, Positive Behavior Support, Liability and Legal Issues and Medical Risks of Restraint) – 3 days
• Relational, Conceptual, and Technical (includes physical restraints) – 5 days

Additional Resources:

There currently are additional qualified resources for training:

• Jay Nolan Center
  Los Angeles, California
• Learning Services Corporation
  Escondido, California
• California Community Opportunities
  Campbell, California
• Family Life Center
  Petaluma, California

This program has been reviewed and it was determined that this program lacks the type of published, peer-reviewed research that meets the CEBC criteria for a scientific rating of 1 – 5. Therefore, the program has been given the classification of "NR - Not able to be Rated." It was reviewed because it was identified by the topic expert as a program being used in the field, or it is being marketed and/or used in California with children receiving services from child welfare or related systems and their parents/caregivers. Some programs that are not rated may have published, peer-reviewed research that does not meet the above stated criteria or may have eligible studies that have not yet been published in the peer-reviewed literature. For more information on the "NR - Not able to be Rated" classification, please see the Scientific Rating Scale.

Child Welfare Outcomes: Not Specified

Currently, there are no published, peer-reviewed research studies for The Mandt System.

No reference materials are currently available for The Mandt System.