Attendant Care for Children and Youth with EBD/SED: Part I National Literature Review

Abstract

Attendant Care services are frequently offered to children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and their families but little is known about best practices in the field. The following report presents a review of the national literature to establish state-of-the-art knowledge about attendant care services. Because no empirical or conceptual literature could be found that specifically described attendant care services for children with EBD, the literature search was broadened to gain knowledge from related fields of practice: specifically, paraprofessional services in mental health, special education, and early intervention.

Three main questions recur in the literature and are discussed in the following report:

1) How effective are paraprofessional services and when, where, and how would they best be utilized? 2) What are the common roles and responsibilities of paraprofessionals and are they appropriate? 3) Which qualifications, training, and supervision should be required of and afforded to paraprofessionals to improve effectiveness, recruitment, and retention?