Pro-ACT In-Service Instructor FAQs

On page 3 of the In-service Instructor Agreement signed by the In-service Instructor and their Sponsor, is the following guidelines for class size:

• Pro-ACT, Inc. recommends classes of 8-12, with a recommended maximum of 16 in any In-service Training workshop, regardless of the number of In-service Instructors in attendance. Larger class sizes make adequate supervision difficult and potentially unsafe.

In-service Instructors will still be required to complete and submit documentation indicating that they have completed the equivalent of two complete Pro-ACT trainings per year. However, In-service Instructors who teach the blended training (Pro-ACT Advantage + 7 hours of classroom teaching) will get credit for the equivalent of one complete Pro-ACT training (or 14 hours). To teach using Advantage you must first:

• complete the Advantage course yourself,
• email your Advantage Certificate of Completion to the Pro-ACT, Inc. office at info@proacttraining.com.

If you do teach using Advantage, it is important that you:

• collect the Advantage Certificates of Completion for all participants. Advantage MUST be completion before instructor-led training begins,
• review each participants Advantage Reflection Workbook.

When submitting certification renewal documentation to Pro-ACT, Inc. for training that incorporates Advantage, participants’ Advantage Certificates must be included in the upload documentation. (See requirements for Maintaining Certification.)

Understanding which safety training is best for your organization and your employees is important.
Pro-ACT, Inc. offers Pro-ACT training and OPTIONS 553 Workplace Violence Prevention Training.
The table below offers a content comparison to help you make the right choice for your organization. For additional information, call the Pro-ACT, Inc. office at 909-758-0322.

OPTIONS 553 vs Pro-ACT for FAQ

The two trainings meet very different objectives. OPTIONS 553 Workplace Violence Prevention Training is for employees in any work environment, meets the de-escalation training requirements for SB 553, and focuses only on workplace violence. Pro-ACT training is for professionals working in clinical, educational, or social service environments with a responsibility to maintain safety for themselves and all others. For a more detailed information, review the Pro-ACT vs OPTIONS 553 Content Comparison,

The answer is determined by each individual agency or organization. Many choose to train and certify all of their personnel, while others limit certification to those persons with direct care responsibilities. In some situations, regulatory bodies clearly define requirements for training.

Since the development of the Pro-ACT Principles over 40 years ago, professionals who have been trained include, child and youth care workers, recreation therapists, nurses, nurses’ aides, psychiatric technicians, mental health workers, teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators, security personnel, corrections officers, social workers, psychologists, and physicians.

Anyone working in a treatment setting where there is a potential for violent behavior is a qualified candidate for Pro-ACT certification.

The employees you train are certified by you (the In-service Instructor) in conjunction with your Agency, not by Pro-ACT. Inc. Therefore, certificates for your employees are created by you. Certificates should include: employee name, agency name, In-service Instructor name, certification and expiration date. Certificates may also indicate that they are non-transferable and valid for active employees only.

The term “evidence-based” practice originated in the medical field to describe treatments and practices that have been shown to be effective based on the results of replicated, rigorous research with randomized, controlled trials (RCT) and meta-analyses and systematic peer reviews. The term has since been adopted in fields outside of medicine including education, mental and behavioral health, and other social services. Evidence-based practices in the social sciences should demonstrate evidence of an intervention’s impact on specified outcomes in studies with RCTs or strong quasi-experimental (with pre/post-test and comparison group, but no randomization) design, and be published in peer-reviewed journals or detailed evaluation reports.

There has been very limited research on the effectiveness of crisis intervention programs. This is largely due to the challenges of conducting such research including the infeasibility of randomization, difficulty collecting relevant and accurate data due to the nature of crisis situations, and ethical considerations (e.g., need for informed and voluntary consent, involvement of vulnerable populations and individuals in distress).

The research that has been conducted on the effectiveness of crisis intervention programs, including Pro-ACT, shows reductions in the incidence of seclusion/restraint and positive changes in staff attitudes. However, none of that research meets the requirements for Evidence-based Practices. Limitations of the existing research include a limited number of settings and client types, absence of equivalent comparison groups, and the presence of potentially significant confounding variables (e.g., changes in documentation and debriefing practices, primary plan management, routines and policies as well as other culture change initiatives). None of the existing research on the effectiveness of crisis intervention programs has been subjected to peer review.

Pro-ACT Training is, however, a Best Practice. Best practices are generally accepted methods that have proven themselves over time. While Best Practices do not have the rigorous research basis of Evidence-based Practices, they do reflect a careful consideration of relevant, clinical research and a thorough review of standard discipline-specific practices and approaches.

Pro-ACT Training emphasizes critical thinking and continued assessment to meet the needs of clients while increasing safety and minimizing risks. The focus is on preventing crises through respectful interactions with clients grounded in current concepts of trauma-informed care, intervening at the earliest possible point in the assault crisis cycle using reasonable force response, implementing a robust documentation/debriefing process to identify improvements in client supports, and encouraging a culture that supports ongoing training and professional development.

Evaluations are printed as the last page of the Participant’s Exercise Booklet.

Advantage e-Learning is an online training option that can be accessed by your employees anywhere they have a computer and internet service. The Advantage content covers the first half of Pro-ACT certification training, providing employees with the fundamental skills they need to effectively and safely interact with clients while also providing a range of de-escalation strategies. Advantage can be used to begin the training certification process now with the final portion of training completed at a later date.

When displayed in presentation mode, the words will be clear. When not in presentation mode, they appear jumbled because certain slides have multiple content pieces.

You do not need the PowerPoint password. Instead, you will access the PowerPoint presentation in “Read Only” mode.

The in-service instruction delivered inside an agency is 14 hours for Pro-ACT certification plus an additional 4 hours for Restraint Certification.

As copyrighted material, the Pro-ACT and Pro-ACT Restraint Certification PowerPoint presentations cannot be modified.

No, CEUs must be requested before training is complete. CEUs are issued upon successful completion of the training.

To offer CEUs, your agency must have completed its own application and review process and be approved as a CEU provider. If your agency has successfully completed this process, you can offer CEUs in accordance with the approval. Your agency cannot use the Pro-ACT, Inc. approval to offer CEUs.

The decision to acknowledge employee certification provided by an agency other than your own is completely up to the hiring agency. However, if you decide to accept certification provided by another agency, it is recommended that you confirm who provided the certification as well as the training date and the certification expiration date.

No, there is no minimum. You can train as few as 1 person. However, regardless of the number of participants, training hours must meet the minimum requirement of 14 hours for Pro-ACT certification and 4 hours for Restraint certification.

The Agreement you and your Sponsor signed states that you can only train employees of the agency that employs you.

Because you, as an In-service Instructor, provide the certification, and the decision to certify is yours along with your agency Sponsor, the choice to train remotely is based upon your ability to accurately assess a participant’s skills. Certification should be based upon the assessment criteria provided in the evaluation section of your manual. Pro-ACT, Inc. provides that rubric for evaluating competency of each Principle with the Beginner Level being the minimum standard for certification.

You must complete a new In-service Instructor Agreement with your new Sponsor or Agency information. To get your new Agreement and change your Sponsor, follow the step-by-step instructions below.

1. From the In-service Instructor Portal menu option
2. Select the Change Sponsor or Agency button
3. Complete and submit the request form
4. Watch your email for a new Agreement from DocuSign
5. Complete your portion of the Agreement
6. Press Complete to automatically forward the Agreement to your Sponsor for their completion
7. Your change will be processed when the completed Agreement is received by our office

If you are not receiving emails from Pro-ACT, it is probably for one of the three following reasons: 1) Email is being sent to your SPAM/Junk folder. Please check those folders for correspondence from Pro-ACT; 2) Your email is incorrect in our records. To check your email address, log into the Pro-ACT website and check the Primary and Secondary email addresses listed on the Instructor Info tab of your Instructor Profile; 3) Emails are being filtered out through a firewall system used by your employer. To find out if this is happening, contact your agency’s IT department and let them know that you would like to receive emails from “@proacttraining.com.”