For families facing significant behavioral challenges, AZA United’s Clinical Family Coaching (CFC) program provides intensive training, support, and practical strategies to improve behaviors that impact daily life and family well-being. Unlike traditional therapy models that focus primarily on direct treatment with the individual, CFC emphasizes empowering parents, caregivers, and other important support people with the skills needed to create lasting change in the environments where life happens every day. Each individualized program is overseen by a licensed and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and delivered by an experienced clinical team.
Program Highlights
- Available for children & teens who live at home with a parent/guardian or foster family
- Designed to improve highly challenging behaviors and empower caregivers
- Services take place in the home or community
- The standard schedule includes 2-3 home visits/week for about 5-10 hours
- At least one parent/guardian must participate in every session
- Other family members and caregivers may also participate in sessions if needed
- CFC typically lasts 6-12 months depending on when graduation goals are achieved
Program Overview
The Clinical Family Coaching program (CFC) is designed for children, adolescents, and young adults experiencing serious behavioral challenges such as aggression, self-injury, severe tantrums, elopement, and other high-risk behaviors. Services take place in the settings that matter most to each family, including the home and other community locations. Through a collaborative coaching model, families work closely with their clinical team to identify high-priority concerns, understand the factors driving behavior, and build effective strategies that improve safety, stability, and quality of life.
Sessions are structured with standard openings which include a review pf progress and setting the agenda for the day, competing a planned activity, and a closing activity including a review of the session and planning for the next session. Planned activities are unique to each person and family, but they focus on the behavioral hot spots. For example, if outings are the issue, then the team works on outings. If daily living tasks are the issue, then the team works on that. If bedtime or mealtimes are the issue, then those activities comprise the session. There is no limit to what activities are targeted, it just depends on where the issues are.
Families participating in the CFC program also receive assistance from AZA United’s Family Support Team, helping them navigate eligibility requirements and access the services and resources they need. Our goal is not only to address challenging behavior, but to empower families with the knowledge, support, and confidence they need to thrive long after the program is complete.
CFC is a unique form of ABA because it focuses primarily on caregiver coaching, whether that be with parents, guardians or other caregivers. CFC is a graduation-based model focused on teaching people skills to manage and improve challenging behaviors over time. Another characteristic that is atypical among ABA programs is that CFC is not exclusive to autism. Although there are certain high-risk behaviors that CFC cannot treat, there are no specific developmental or behavioral diagnosis limitations.
Most ABA programs focus on a wide range of skills and behavior through direct care, over a long period of time (often several years or more). In contrast, CFC helps parents/caregivers identify the most challenging behaviors they are experiencing, and then the treatment plan is focused on improving those specific priorities in the context of common daily activities to achieve whole family outcomes.
AZA’s Model of Care
The Clinical Family Coaching team sees our ultimate goal as improving quality of life for the individual served and their family members. We strive to achieve this by teaching caregivers effective strategies that minimize the stress and limitations imposed by challenging behavior. Although CFC is an ABA-based program, the treatment model is very different from traditional ABA therapy. What is similar is how we incorporate the science of compassionate behavior change to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives who are experiencing complex care challenges.
What makes AZA United’s Clinical Family Coaching program unique is its focus on sustainable, long-term success. We believe meaningful progress occurs when the people who support an individual every day gain the confidence and skills to respond effectively to behavioral challenges. Our approach, known as “Walking the Path of Progress,” combines evidence-based practices from Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) with caregiver training and interdisciplinary collaboration to create positive change that lasts beyond therapy sessions. By partnering with parents, grandparents, siblings, teachers, direct support providers, and other members of a person’s support network, we help families build stronger relationships, reduce stress, and create a more successful future together.
A critical component of the CFC treatment model is identifying personal values. Our experienced clinicians work with parents and caregivers to clearly identify their own values and to plan for how those chosen values can be leaned upon in the most difficult moments so that behavioral strategies align with what is most important to each family.
AZA United developed the CFC program in response to an urgent community need. No other organization offers this program or anything quite like it. It has evolved over more than a decade to optimize the experience for families and maximize positive outcomes for members.
