The Institute for Behavior Change was founded in 1997 by Executive Director Steven Kossor. Since then we have been providing "Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Services" (BHRS) funded by the EPSDT program of Medicaid under the direct supervision of licensed professional psychologists in the Southeastern region of Pennsylvania. As in at least 36 states, these services are available to any Pennsylvania child who has a diagnosed mental disability, regardless of family income, under the Social Security Act. Our staff have delivered these services to more than 500 children throughout Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. We currently employ more than 100 staff, including five Licensed Psychologists, a Certified School Psychologist, and fourteen BSC providers. If a child needs help to address behavioral difficulties at home, in school or in the community, our staff can deliver Behavior Specialist Consultation (BSC) services, Mobile Therapy (MT) or Therapeutic Staff Support (TSS) services in the Southeastern region of Pennsylvania. We have found BHRS services to be the important and effective treatment that fills the “wraparound” cup as our logo shows on the left. Please feel free to view our video resources to learn more about our company and find valuable information about BHRS, EPSDT, wrap around services and advocacy: Click Here
Our senior professional staff have specialized in the treatment of children with developmental disabilities, including autism, since 1977. The innovative community-based psychological service delivery model that Steven Kossor created in 1981 to deliver psychological services and behavioral support to children (and that we continually refine and develop) was cited as a "comprehensive and efficient" treatment modality by the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health in 2003. We are behavioral scientists. We teach the use of evidence-based practices, how to monitor treatment outcomes on an ongoing basis, and how to conduct research to develop new and effective behavioral intervention strategies and techniques. Our licensed psychologists perform state-of-the-art psychodiagnostic evaluations. Our Certified School Psychologists perform school-related evaluations and other consultations. We provide Medicaid eligibility evaluations for Pennsylvania children who have mental disabilities. Our Founder and Executive Director has received commendations from the US Congress, both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature, and the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health for his creation of a visionary and highly successful new model for the delivery of community-based mental health treatment to children.
Our treatment staff collect outcome data on all of our BHRS treatment programs every week (parental assessment of progress), and modify the child's treatment program accordingly. Since 2002, we have monitored more than 1,000 treatment plans and posted an average "success" rate of 75% (reducing target behavior or stabilizing deteriorating behavior patterns), addressing physical aggression, safety issues, noncompliance with adult prompts, socialization deficits and communication deficits in children between the ages of 2 and 19 diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), ADHD and other conditions. Independent researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have confirmed the significance of these findings. Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia studied our outcome data in 2010 and corroborated the findings of the UNC - Chapel Hill researchers.
All of our professional services are absolutely free -- regardless of family income.