HANDS in Autism® will be featured at the upcoming Fall ICASE Conference, presenting a timely and impactful session titled “Building Local Capacity: Developing Internal Coaches to Strengthen System and Team Needs in Behavioral Health & Education.”
The presentation will highlight the Internal Coaching (IC) Provider Model, an innovative framework designed to expand provider competency, improve behavioral health service delivery, and promote long-term sustainability in training and professional development. Rooted in evidence-based practices, the model equips agencies and schools with structured coaching frameworks that guide providers, educators, and teams in applying best practices with fidelity.
Through its Internal Coaching Provider Group Pilot, HANDS in Autism® has partnered with local, regional, and statewide agencies to:
- Establish internal coaches trained to mentor providers in implementing behavioral health strategies.
- Improve awareness, knowledge, and skills across organizations while maintaining consistency in evidence-based practices.
- Deliver an eight-month progression of training, mentoring, and implementation support.
- Introduce micro-credentialing and badging as tools to recognize proficiency, incentivize continued learning, and validate high-quality care standards.
Building on this success, the next phase of the initiative will extend the internal coaching model to educators and school-based teams, supporting more effective classroom practices for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related needs. The expansion ensures system-wide adoption of coaching models that are both sustainable and impactful, strengthening professional development and service delivery in education.
Conference attendees will benefit from a walkthrough of the coaching process, interactive demonstrations, and real-world examples showcasing how structured coaching can transform professional practice. The session will also provide actionable insights for administrators and leaders seeking to move from reliance on external training toward internally sustainable coaching structures that improve retention, enhance quality, and align with value-based care models.
By integrating credentialing and badging systems, the HANDS in Autism® model offers measurable benchmarks for skill development, professional growth, and accountability—raising the bar for behavioral health and education supports across Indiana and beyond.
This session is designed to equip participants with practical tools to implement coaching structures within their own organizations, ensuring ongoing growth and consistency in delivering high-quality services.
For more information on the Fall ICASE Conference, visit ICASE Event Page. To learn more about HANDS in Autism®, visit handsinautism.iu.edu.